Yesterday’s markup was an opportunity for reform of the abusive law, with amendments that could have brought the Patriot Act closer to compliance with the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment guarantee of protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Yet, every single reform that was offer was rejected by the House Judiciary Committee.

The advice of Senator Robert La Follette, on the risk to freedom created by the state of war, nearly one hundred years ago.

The failure of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to deal with the contents of the EFF report, showing widespread abuses of the Patriot Act, indicates that yesterday’s hearing was not intended as a serious consideration of the surveillance law.

Lamar Smith is not beginning the Patriot Act investigations that were promised. That makes the March 12 protest against the Patriot Act in Washington D.C. especially important.

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.

For Tom McClintock, supporting the Patriot Act was expected, because he is a Republican. However, McClintock knew that extending the Patriot Act was not the conservative thing to do

Representative Jerry Nadler spoke against Patriot Act renewal today. It has been recently revealed that, over a seven-year period, there were tens of thousands of purposeful violations by the FBI of Americans’ rights in the execution of the Patriot Act.

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has issued a statement concerning the increasingly contentious issue of whether to ban mosques in America. Her statement draws a distinction between feelings of emotional pain and standards of religious freedom: First and foremost, I understand the pain, trauma, and grief suffered by the men, women and children who [...]

Delahunt voted to extend the worst abuses of the Patriot Act without any reforms at all to the law passed at the height of the Homeland Security scare a decade ago. This vote tarnishes Delahunt’s reputation among progressives near the end of his career, when he is unlikely to have any opportunity to redeem himself with a significant vote on civil liberties.

Abercrombie condemned the bill, saying, “Instead of carefully and thoughtfully strengthening laws that actually work to thwart terrorists, we’re giving government a blank check to trample civil liberties.”