Patriot Act Reauthorization - Say Goodbye to Due Process

The reauthorization of the Patriot Act carries with it some new provisions. Notably, Sec. 605, the Uniformed Division, United States Secret Service.

There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the `United States Secret Service Uniformed Division'.

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Under the direction of the Director of the Secret Service, members of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division are authorized to--

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`(B) make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony...

Their jurisdiction is limited to include the entire universe, depending on circumstances that can be created in any situation... What we have here is a police force that can make a warrantless arrest of anyone in the USA for any reason they or their superiors deem worthy. This not only eliminates accountability of the government for its own actions, but eliminates the paper trail of who is being arrested and why. Sure, this measure will make it easier to "fight terrorism," but if you don't think this will also be used to augment the FBI's Cointel program in arresting political dissidents, protestors, and subversives, well... I guess we'll never know since no one will be accountable for anything anymore...

Don't stand for this! Write a letter to your congressperson and demand that they NOT REAUTHORIZE THE PATRIOT ACT until all such provisions which eliminate the accountability of the federal government in the arrest and detainment of US citizens are removed.