Despite being stymied in its efforts to push a successor to the controversial USA Patriot Act through Congress, the Bush Administration is urging the U.S. House to pass a piece of this legislation that would dramatically expand the federal death penalty, including expansion based on the PATRIOT Act's infamous "domestic terrorism" provisions.
Due to the groundswell of opposition against the PATRIOT Act, President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft have been unable to introduce its sequel -- "PATRIOT Act II" -- as a single package. Instead, they are trying to escape public notice by passing it in pieces. One of these pieces, the "Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2004" (HR 2934) would be an unprecedented expansion of the federal death penalty.
The proposed legislation would establish 23 separate new death penalties in one stroke and would also create an unprecedented ""catch-all"" death penalty for any crime that meets the PATRIOT Act's overbroad definition of terrorism.
This bill would hurt the war on terror by reducing the cooperation that foreign governments would be willing to provide. This lost cooperation would include critical information and the ability to extradite suspected terrorists.
Take Action! Urge your Representative to oppose this unnecessary and unwise expansion of the death penalty.
This legislation would not deter terrorists. This legislation will almost certainly have no deterrent effect on suicidal, politically motivated terrorists such as members of Al Qaeda. Not only do these terrorists seek death in their actions, well-publicized executions are far more likely to create a perverse incentive by giving terrorist organizations the gift of publicity - often the most important tactical goal of any terrorist action.
Expansion of the death penalty under the vaguely worded ""terrorism"" definition of the PATRIOT Act would chill protests. Protestors and activists from Greenpeace to Operation Rescue would risk being sentenced to death and executed for participating in civil disobedience events that are now defined as ""terrorism"" under the PATRIOT Act, if they resulted in a death of one of the participants or someone else.
This bill would actually hurt the war on terror. Many nations in Europe and elsewhere that have abolished the death penalty are unwilling to extradite or provide evidence in federal terrorism cases if the death penalty might result from their cooperation. This bill would further limit their cooperation and participation.
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