[Clips] Land Mine in Patriot Act Provision
Jay Goodman Tamboli
jay at tamboli.cx
Mon Feb 13 13:22:08 PST 2006
On 2006.02.12, at 18:52, R. A. Hettinga wrote:
> A provision in the "Patriot Act" creates a new federal police
> force with
> power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this
> cannot be
> true, as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it
> discussed by
> talking heads on TV. However, it is a looming reality.
>
> Go to House Report 109-333 - "USA PATRIOT Improvement and
> Reauthorization
> Act of 2005," and check it out for yourself.
>
> Sec. 605 states the following:
>
> "There is hereby created and established a permanent police
> force, to be
> known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.'"
>
> This new federal police force is "subject to the supervision of the
> secretary of homeland security."
>
> The new police are empowered to "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."
The Secret Service Uniformed Division is not new (see http://
www.secretservice.gov/ud.shtml). You see them all over DC.
I don't know a whole lot about police powers, but can't a police
offer arrest anyone if he has probable cause the person has committed
a crime? Perhaps "reasonable grounds to believe" is different, but if
the author doesn't know about a branch of law enforcement that has
been in existence since 1860, I don't have much trust in his other
information.
/jgt
--
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