Section 215 of the Patriot Act is commonly referred to as the “library provision” because it allows patron’s library records to be accessed and monitored by law enforcement agencies without a traditional warrant.. The exact number of requests that have been made to libraries is unknown because of both gag orders and the general secrecy allotted to national security. Because a request under the Patriot Act violates a patron’s confidentiality and librarians may be gagged from notifying the patron he or she is under investigation, it was a major concern for our reference service.
https://ischool.syr.edu/the-usa-patriot-act-should-your-library-have-an-official-policy/
@thatguyoverthere @Hyolobrika Why has this "law" been allowed to fester for over 20 years!?
bonifartius 𒂼𒄄
@thatguyoverthere
once in place, such laws never go away.
@Hyolobrika@mstdn.io @adamasnemesis
None of the read it when they signed it into law. It was much too long of a read and they had terrorism to fight. I wonder 20 years later how many know what's inside
@thatguyoverthere
assurances by politicians are worth less than assurances by used car salesmen :D
@Hyolobrika@mstdn.io @adamasnemesis
@thatguyoverthere
well, i'm from germany and was in my early teens back then so i don't know about that :)
@Hyolobrika@mstdn.io @adamasnemesis
@bonifartius @Hyolobrika @adamasnemesis he made remarks to this effect recently.
Joe Biden admits, “I drafted a terrorism bill after the Oklahoma City bombing. And the bill John Ashcroft sent up [the Patriot Act] was my bill”.
I knew when it was signed that what was being passed had been tried under a different name, but the exact history wasn’t clear to me until much later.
The next year, months before the Oklahoma City bombing took place, Biden introduced another bill called the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995.
It previewed the 2001 Patriot Act by allowing secret evidence to be used in prosecutions, expanding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and wiretap laws, creating a new federal crime of “terrorism” that could be invoked based on political beliefs, permitting the U.S. military to be used in civilian law enforcement, and allowing permanent detection of non-U.S. citizens without judicial review.
https://newspunch.com/joe-biden-admits-he-wrote-the-patriot-act-in-1995/