By Jared Rossman

A short update on plans to renew the notorious and draconian Patriot Act: In March and April of this year, Idaho and Montana became the 5th and 6th states to pass anti-Patriot Act resolutions. They join a current total of 379 city, county, and state governments to pass such advisory measures. These jurisdictions are estimated by the ACLU to represent altogether about 57 million Americans!

In the past two years, four Federal court decisions, including one by the Supreme Court, have struck down various Patriot Act provisions, declaring them unconstitutional. These cases dealt with government snooping on the Internet; "enemy combatants" perpetual detention without charges or representa-tion; and non-violent "material support" to terrorists.

Last month, Ralph Nader, writing for Commondreams.org, reported: "The latest convergence of liberal and conservative activity involves selective opposition to the renewal of the Patriot Act in Congress before the year's end.

"The ACLU, Center for Constitutional Rights, and prominent liberal law professors and scholars have opposed various provisions since its hasty passage, without public hearings, by a panicked Congress in October 2001. Since then, the Act has been championed and abused by both Bush and his Attorney General John Ashcroft, who retired with a record of zero victories from five thousand arrests for terrorist activity. . . [one has since pled guilty, under the new A G., Gonzales. . . ].

"In an open letter dated 3/22/05 . . . twenty of the more prominent leaders of conservative organizations, led by the ex-C.I.A. official, ex-Republican Congressman Bob Barr, called on Bush to drop his support for renewing Ôthe most intrusive, unchecked powers temporarily granted by the Patriot Act.'

"The signers, who include David Keene, Grover Norquist, Paul M. Weyrich, and John Snyder, specifically listed Section 213, which allows government agents to Ôsecretly search through people's homes and businesses and seize their personal property without notice for days, weeks, months, or perhaps ever.'

"Also, they opposed Sec. 215, which Ôallows government agents to collect personal data on law-abiding Americans Ð such as the books they buy or borrow, their personal medical history, or even records of goods they purchase, without the provable cause of connections to the commission of a crime or to a foreign terrorist agent.'

"They also objected to Sec. 802, which defines Ôterrorism' so broadly as to give unbridled discretion to government agents at the expense of judicial review for constitutional compliance. "Liberal anti-Patriot Act groups also oppose arrests without charges and imprisonment without attorneys, even of material witnesses, indefinitely. Both groups decry a government that destroys the liberties of law-abiding Americans in the name of protecting them."

Time for us to keep the pressure up!!