Date: Tue, 23  Sep  2003 15:59:10 -0400
From: "The American Civil Liberties Union" <belmonte@MIT.EDU>
To: "The American Civil Liberties Union" <belmonte@mit.edu>
Subject: oppose the Victory Act

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Message sent to the following recipients:
Representative Capuano
Senator Kennedy
Senator Kerry
Message text follows:

Matthew Belmonte
[address]

September 23, 2003

[recipient address was inserted here]


 [recipient name was inserted here],

I urge you to oppose the so-called Victory Act and 
other legislation that would unnecessarily expand law enforcement powers 
and diminish our civil liberties.

The Victory Act that would allow evidence to be introduced into court 
cases even if it were gathered in an illegal manner.  This weakening of 
judicial review would give federal agents the incentive to overreach the 
scope of their investigations and to use improper surveillance techniques. 
 Innocent people would inevitably be spied upon and investigated without 
proper court review.

The Victory Act would also define new federal crime of 'narco-terrorism,' 
carrying mandatory penalties of twenty years to life imprisonment for the 
possession, manufacture, distribution, import or export of any amount of 
any controlled substance that 'directly or indirectly' aids a 'terrorist 
organization.' Under this provision, low-level drug offenders could face 
life imprisonment for buying or selling drugs to people who, unbeknownst 
to them, are connected to a group that the government chooses to define as 
a 'terrorist organization.'

The Department of Justice should not be able to require a person to appear 
in their offices to produce records and answer questions without a warrant 
or oversight by the courts.  The use of such administrative subpoenas in 
criminal cases would again remove key judicial review and create a 
situation prone to abuse. 

Once again, I urge you to oppose the so-called 'Victory Act,' and all 
other government actions that threaten civil liberties.  I look forward to 
hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Sincerely,


Matthew Belmonte