posted 08-06-2003 05:10 PM            

Ashcroft tour to plug terror bill

NY Daily News Exclusive

WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft is hitting the road to rally support for the Victory Act, which would further expand his powers to go after Al Qaeda and narcoterrorists, the Daily News has learned.

Ashcroft will starting pushing the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act later this month in a 10-day, 20-state Victory tour that includes a stop in New York.

But the nation's top cop is facing tough opposition from critics on both the right and left, who fear Ashcroft is eroding civil rights.

The Justice Department's reach was vastly increased by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks with the Patriot Act.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is expected to introduce the Victory Act next month. If passed, the feds would be allowed to:

# Clamp down on Arab hawala transactions, where cash exchanged in an honor system has been funneled to terrorists.

# Get business records without a court order in terrorism probes and delay notification.

# Track wireless communications with a roving warrant.

# Increase sentences for drug kingpins to 40 years in prison and $4 million in fines.

MORE TO FOLLOW...

posted 08-08-2003 01:21 PM            

By JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - The White House is expected to push several bills to greatly expand the Justice Department's power to uncover terrorists before they strike, sources said.
A Republican-sponsored Victory Act would broaden the use of subpoenas allowing the feds access to some business records without a judge's approval.

A government official said legislation extending Attorney General John Ashcroft's power will be promoted later this year and next year, but promised the Constitution "will be our guide in seeking any new authority."

Civil libertarians called the plans a dangerous power grab that could erode individual rights. "Absolutely nothing would prevent the attorney general from using these subpoenas to obtain the records of people who have no connection to terrorism or to crime of any sort," ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said.

The legislation would follow up on the anti-terrorism Patriot Act passed soon after the attacks of 2001. Ashcroft plans a tour of 20 states this month to defend the 2001 law - which even some supporters have said went too far - and tout successes against terrorists.

Ashcroft asked the House in June to make most terror acts punishable by the death penalty and to make attending terror training camps a crime. Sources said he is also expected to push for a databank of terror suspects' DNA, and will seek power to freeze suspects' assets.

This week, Ashcroft ordered prosecutors to identify judges whose sentences are lighter than federal guidelines recommend, which critics said could limit judicial independence.

posted 08-08-2003 10:21 PM            

They might be coming for you too Prof.

You might say the wrong thing somewhere where you shouldn't or own the wrong type of firearm and labeled a "terrorist".

Think about it.

posted 08-08-2003 11:28 PM            

WHO DECIDES who is "over the wall?"

Yep..you are DEFINATELY not a Constitutionalist.

You'd love to see others who disagree with you arrested.

posted 08-12-2003 11:43 PM            

Ashcroft plans Patriot Act tour

The Associated Press
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0803/12ashcroft.html

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft will embark on a multicity tour this month to talk about the war on terrorism and the benefits of the USA Patriot Act, officials said Monday.

Ashcroft plans to kick off the tour Aug. 19 in Washington and visit more than a dozen cities. The exact itinerary was still being completed and will be released later.

The Patriot Act, passed a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, strengthened the government's surveillance powers, beefed up anti-terrorism laws and made it easier to go after financial backers of terrorism.

posted 08-15-2003 08:42 PM            

Measures in the 89-page draft include:

Creation of a new category of crime called "Narco-terrorism."

Radical expansion of asset forfeiture powers for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

Expansion of the definition of money-laundering to several kinds of transactions, including offshore banking as a means of tax evasion.

Creation of a ludicrous new "crime" of "reverse money-laundering."

Longer jail terms for a number of nonviolent drug and nondrug offenses.

Expanded opportunities for judge-shopping in wiretap cases.

Expansion of nonjudicial "administrative subpoenas" for "terrorism" investigations as broadly defined in the USA PATRIOT Act.

GET THE PDF:

posted 08-15-2003 09:10 PM            

In fact Sherrifs are going to be replaced by
FEDERAL MARSHALLS.

All part of Bush/Ashcrofts new "Homeland."

posted 08-15-2003 11:17 PM            

Oh yeah?

THINK AGAIN.
http://newswithviews.com/Betty/Freauf35.htm

"--Once again we see Congress usurping the province of the county sheriffs and local police by giving too much power to the unelected FBI and BATF officials. I think the sheriff in Waco was trying but the BATF simply overwhelmed him. The result was the death of 17 little innocent children and their parents over something that could have been averted if it had been handled properly by the local sheriff, who had a good relationship with Koresh. --"