so i'm sure we've all heard by now that the bush administration is seeking to have all articles of the PATRIOT act renewed, or even expanded. i'm sure you've also heard the numbers bush is repeating on his speech circuit in support of the renewal... 400 investigations involving terrorism, 200 convictions. sounds good to me.
well, it turns out we don't even get to know any details about those numbers, only that they're accurate, honest.
that sucks. but wait, what exactly are we talking about when we say "terrorism-related investigations", anyway?
so when you hear promises from lawmakers that administrative subpoenaes and the like are only being used in terrorism-related cases, well, this is an indication of how little that means. so don't call your arab friends "terrorists" as a joke, because that could count as an unsubstantiated link to terrorism. (besides which they might be offended... but who cares, it's not like they have souls.)
for added entertainment, think back a few years to those federally-funded commercials equating drug use with supporting terrorists. if that's the way our government really sees drugs, then what the hell, i guess they're allowed to use the PATRIOT act in drug cases. and everyone knows that the real culprit in the war on drugs is the consumer... etc.
well, it turns out we don't even get to know any details about those numbers, only that they're accurate, honest.
This year, for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, the department [of justice] omitted without explanation any figures on terrorism-related investigations and convictions in its annual performance report.
In a series of memos sent to the nation's prosecutors between September 2001 and April 2003 [obtained by the des moines register with the freedom of information act], records show that the Justice Department:
• Required that any investigation involving a suspected terrorist link, even if unsubstantiated and unprosecuted, be counted as ter- rorism-related.
• Expanded the number of terrorism-related crime categories from two to six. Now, when federal authorities looking for terrorists make an arrest for other reasons, the case is logged by prosecutors as "anti-terrorism."
• Exempted terrorism cases from a policy that generally counts leads only when prosecutors spend an hour investigating them. Unlike leads on conventional crimes, those on alleged terrorist activities are now immediately logged by prosecutors even if they are disre- garded.
• Required that any investigation involving a suspected terrorist link, even if unsubstantiated and unprosecuted, be counted as ter- rorism-related.
• Expanded the number of terrorism-related crime categories from two to six. Now, when federal authorities looking for terrorists make an arrest for other reasons, the case is logged by prosecutors as "anti-terrorism."
• Exempted terrorism cases from a policy that generally counts leads only when prosecutors spend an hour investigating them. Unlike leads on conventional crimes, those on alleged terrorist activities are now immediately logged by prosecutors even if they are disre- garded.
for added entertainment, think back a few years to those federally-funded commercials equating drug use with supporting terrorists. if that's the way our government really sees drugs, then what the hell, i guess they're allowed to use the PATRIOT act in drug cases. and everyone knows that the real culprit in the war on drugs is the consumer... etc.
David Burnham, a Syracuse University researcher and author whose 2003 report on terrorism statistics provided new insight into the department's handling of the cases, said the new reporting methods "of course would lead to more numbers" of such prosecutions.
...
Since the release of Burnham's report, news organizations across the country have used the information to identify some of the government's so-called terrorism targets: college entrance-exam cheaters, check forgers, sham husbands and those who overstay visas, among them.
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Since the release of Burnham's report, news organizations across the country have used the information to identify some of the government's so-called terrorism targets: college entrance-exam cheaters, check forgers, sham husbands and those who overstay visas, among them.
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