Message-Id: <200110091923.f99JNJ902006@wolverine.capwiz.com>
Date: Tue, 09  Oct  2001 14:17:54 -0400
From: Matthew Belmonte <belmonte@MIT.EDU>
Content-type: text/plain
To: "Undisclosed Recipients" <undisclosed@email.com>
Subject: Oppose Extreme and Unnecessary Expansions of Government Authority!

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Message sent to the following recipients:
Sen. Kennedy
Sen. Kerry
Message text follows:

Matthew Belmonte
[address]


October 9, 2001

[recipient address was inserted here]


 [recipient name was inserted here],

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the "Uniting and Strengthening 
America (USA) Act" (S.1510), a bill that would permit government officials 
to abandon normal standards of due process and criminal evidence. 

In past times of tragedy and fear, the United States government has 
harassed, investigated and arrested people solely because of their race, 
their religion, their national origin, their speech or their political 
beliefs. We must not allow this to happen again.

The government must not be given the authority to spy on its own people.  
The wiretapping proposals in the Senate bill sound a common theme: they 
minimize the role of a judge in ensuring that law enforcement wiretapping 
is conducted legally and with proper justification.  Further, other 
provisions would allow the government access to sensitive information 
about US citizens and residents without having to show evidence of a 
crime.   Security and civil liberties do not have to be at odds so long as 
the checks and balances that have guarded against the excesses of the 
Executive branch remain in place.

The Attorney General must not be given new and unprecedented authorities 
to incarcerate non-citizens.  Incarceration of individuals is one of the 
most serious deprivations of liberty possible. When such a substantial 
liberty interest is at stake, the Constitution demands that adequate 
protection -- due process -- is provided to ensure that decisions are 
correct and fair. The Senate bill would permit the indefinite detentions 
of non-citizens based merely on the Attorney General's certification that 
a non-citizen endangers national security.

Finally, the government must not be allowed to expand the use of secret 
searches. In most cases, a person is notified when law enforcement 
conducts a search. But in some cases, law enforcement authorities can get 
court permission to delay notification of a search for a limited class of 
crimes under special circumstances. This bill would extend the authority 
of the government to request secret searches in every criminal offence. 
This vast expansion of power goes far beyond anything necessary to conduct 
terrorism investigations. 

Again, I urge you to oppose the USA Act.  I look forward to hearing your 
thoughts on this urgent matter.

Sincerely,


Matthew Belmonte