FC: FBI gets more surveillance powers; Cato's Pilon says no problem

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1030338
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on  Thursday will grant 
> the FBI more leeway to conduct domestic counterterrorism surveillance 
> following the agency's concession it had made mistakes in assessing clues 
> before the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said. Thirty years after the 
> government imposed guidelines to  curtail domestic spying, Attorney 
> General John Ashcroft will loosen rules that restrict surveillance at 
> public gatherings, religious and political organizations and surfing the 
> Internet. [...]

---

CATO INSTITUTE NEWS MEMO
May 30, 2002

NO PROBLEM WITH NEW FBI SURVEILLANCE GUIDELINES, SCHOLAR SAYS

WASHINGTON--The Justice Department is expected to announce today new 
guidelines giving greater latitude to FBI agents to monitor Internet sites, 
libraries, and religious institutions without first having to offer 
evidence of potential criminal activity.

Roger Pilon, vice president for legal affairs at the Cato Institute and a 
former Justice Department official, had the following remarks: "As reported 
in the press, the new FBI surveillance guidelines present no serious 
problems. Especially under post-September 11 circumstances, law enforcement 
monitoring of public places is simply good, pro-active police work that 
violates the rights of no one. The same is true for topical research not 
directly related to a specific crime, which the new guidelines will permit.

"Depending on how the work is conducted, there is always the potential for 
abuse, of course. But unless the new latitude leads to significant abuse, 
that potential should not preclude officials from taking an active role not 
simply in prosecuting but in preventing crime as well."

Pilon can be reached at 202-789-5233. To arrange a broadcast interview with 
him, contact Jerry Brito, manager of media relations, at 202-218-4621 or 
jbrito () cato org. Also available for comment are Timothy Lynch, director of 
Cato's Project on Criminal Justice, at 202-789-5239 and Robert A. Levy, 
senior fellow in constitutional studies at 202-789-5253.





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