Judy Chu speaks out against roving wiretaps, and on March 12, protesters will meet outside the U.S. Capitol to demand repeal of the Patriot Act. For more info, see the Patriot Act Protest page on Facebook.

In spite of their promises to strictly honor the Constitution, congressional Republicans last week pushed through a renewal of clearly unconstitutional provisions of the Patriot Act.

More than just Michele Bachmann’s presidential ambitions may have been put at risk with the vote to renew the Patriot Act. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives may also have been sacrificed.

The Senate Democrats sneaked a renewal of the Patriot Act’s worst spying powers without any hearings, and without any reforms, on February 15, 2011.

A full list of who voted for the Patriot Act renewal on Valentine’s Day 2011, who voted against it, and who in Congress didn’t vote at all.

Most members of the House Tea Party Caucus voted in favor of big government and against constitutional rights in yesterday’s vote on extending the abusive Patriot Act.

Senator Patrick Leahy insisted, even though the meeting had been previously designated as an appropriate time to deal with FISA Amendments Act reforms, that the matter would not be dealt with. So, the amendment had to be withdrawn.

In the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Richard Durbin just offered an amendment to S. 1692, a bill reauthorizing Patriot Act surveillance powers. It would have only required that when national security letters (NSLs) are issued without constitutional warrants, they have to be limited to surveillance of those who are suspected terrorists, suspected spies, or people [...]

The first generation of US citizens had plenty of experience with the way that unscrupulous leaders could exploit fears about security to impose tyrannical abuses against the people. Those sorts of abuses, given the power of today’s surveillance technologies, are more important to protect against, absolutely, than ever before.

Number of members of the House of Representatives signing on in support of H. Res. 329, a symbolic resolution commemorating the sinking of a steamboat 143 years ago today: 54 Number of members of the House of Representatives signing on in support of H.R. 104, a bill to create an independent commission to investigate practices [...]