"We are Muslims. We are American. We are patriotic," Mona Mayfield said. "We are unhappy with the current administration stripping away our rights." The federal government has agreed to pay Brandon Mayfield $2 million to settle part of a lawsuit he filed after the FBI misidentified a fingerprint and wrongly arrested him in the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings.

The FBI did not mention Mayfield's faith in its press release issued following his release, and reiterated some of an OIG report's findings on their investigation in a follow-up. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner also issued a statement praising the report, which did find that the Patriot Act was not misused. There is some controversy about what the report says about Mayfield's faith, and parts of the report were redacted before it was declassified.
posted on Nov 29, 2006 - View this thread

Governor Taft of Ohio is about to sign Senate Bill 9, the Ohio Patriot Act. Among its provisions:

• Police can deny entry to "transportation infrastructure" to anyone not showing an ID;
• Police can demand the name, address, and date of birth of anyone suspected of having committed a crime or being about to commit a crime, or having witnessed a crime or a plan to commit a crime. Failure to provide this information is an arrestable offense -- so basically all demonstrators could be required to give their names, addresses and dates of birth or face arrest;
• Reminiscent of Joe McCarthy's famous question, many state licenses will begin with the question "Are you a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?". Failure to answer means no license; answering affirmatively is self-incrimination.
• Perhaps worst of all, the original version of the bill simply prohibited state or local governemnts or government employees from objecting to the USA PATRIOT act. The current version allows criticism, but threatens local government with the loss of funds if they in any way "materially hinder" Federal anti-terrorism efforts.

"Welcome to Ohio! Ihre Papiere, bitte!"
posted on Dec 23, 2005 - View this thread

[TotalitarianismFilter] Don't be asking your college librarian for a copy of that Little Red Book to do a class assignment, or your parents might get a visit from the good folks at the Department of Homeland Security. More evidence that the Bush administration cannot restrain itself when granted enhanced surveillance powers.
posted on Dec 17, 2005 - View this thread

"Are you a terrorist?" There's a judge in Tarrytown, NY, who's got an interesting spin on applying the Patriot Act. Or something.
posted on May 22, 2003 - View this thread