IP: more on one in 24 Americans as citizen spies - the REST of the story!

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Jim Warren <jwarren () well com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 12:32:18 -0700
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Cc: geoff () iconia com
Subject: Re:...one in 24 Americans as citizen spies - the REST of the story!

> > From: "the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow" <geoff () iconia com>
> > To: "Dave E-mail Pamphleteer Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
> > ...
> > As with the Patriot Act, TIPS is being pursued as part of the so-called war
> > against terrorism. It is a Department of Justice project.
> >
> > --SNIP--
> >
> > http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/14/1026185141232.html

This item was widely circulated by Declan, and now by Geoff.
However, in both cases, they snipped-off the REMAINDER of the
original article, safely published in Australia, somewhat beyond US
control.  To wit:

[... continuing from SNIP]

Historically, informant systems have been the tools of non-democratic
states. According to a 1992 report by Harvard University's Project on
Justice, the accuracy of informant reports is problematic, with some
informants having embellished the truth, and others suspected of
having fabricated their reports.

Present Justice Department procedures mean that informant reports
will enter databases for future reference and/or action. The
information will then be broadly available within the department,
related agencies and local police forces. The targeted individual
will remain unaware of the existence of the report and of its
contents.

The Patriot Act already provides for a person's home to be searched
without that person being informed that a search was ever performed,
or of any surveillance devices that were implanted.

At state and local levels the TIPS program will be co-ordinated by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was given sweeping new
powers, including internment, as part of the Reagan Administration's
national security initiatives. Many key figures of the Reagan era are
part of the Bush Administration.

The creation of a US "shadow government", operating in secret, was
another Reagan national security initiative.

Ritt Goldstein is an investigative journalist and a former leader in
the movement for US law enforcement accountability. He has lived in
Sweden since 1997, seeking political asylum there, saying he was the
victim of life-threatening assaults in retaliation for his
accountability efforts. His application has been supported by the
European Parliament, five of Sweden's seven big political parties,
clergy, and Amnesty and other rights groups.

====

Sheesh!  Someone who wants law enforcement to be ACCOUNTABLE?!  Geee
... maybe Aussies are waaaay more liberal than is their reputation.
;-)

--jim


------ End of Forwarded Message

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