…and this is a 
That's some law, that Patriot Act
Category: Politics
Posted on: January 30, 2006 1:05 PM, by PZ Myers
It's got everything a fascist dictator might want in a law.
A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any "special event of national significance" away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter.
[The] measure...would extend the authority of the Secret Service to allow agents to arrest people who willingly or knowingly enter a restricted area at an event, even if the president or other official normally protected by the Secret Service isn't in attendance at the time.
(via Nathan Newman)
Comments
Isn't there a song, whose name escapes me for the moment , that includes the following line:
"O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave"
Somewhere something's gone horribly wrong
Posted by: Darkling | January 30, 2006 1:51 PM
Does that felony arrest come with a savage beating or does that come with the next revision?
Posted by: timageous | January 30, 2006 2:05 PM
How does this fit in with your new "Homeland Defense Police" and all those new detention camps?
Posted by: Graculus | January 30, 2006 2:07 PM
"Does that felony arrest come with a savage beating or does that come with the next revision?"
Beating are quaint. It's likely we'll see more "punishment by proxy" as we saw during the 2004 RNC protests in New York, which was essentially torture by inflicting injury through tight handcuffs (or flexcuffs) after an arrest, being held in unsanitary conditions for over 24 hours (like the protestors being held on Pier 57, lying on a floor covered with transmission fluid and other toxic agents that caused skin sores), being forcibly separated from epilepsy medication or eyeglasses, being refused medical treatment for breathing problems or internal injury, being refused water so that dehydration sets in, etc. Angry yet?
Posted by: Kristine | January 30, 2006 2:45 PM
What would you expect from a law with a name straight out of 1984?
Posted by: Steve LaBonne | January 30, 2006 3:00 PM
And I thought the Patriot Act was creepy, before. *shudder*
What would you expect from a law with a name straight out of 1984?
*Double shudder*
Posted by: BronzeDog | January 30, 2006 3:23 PM
Essentially this provision expands the jurisdiction of the Secret Service so that they can arrest anyone if they have reasonable grounds to believe that they have committed or are committing any crime, so long as it occurs at an event of national significance. Who decides if it is such an event? The president. Frankly I find the administration's brazen flouting of the law and the constitution over the NSA scandal far more worrying, but it's certainly not good.
Posted by: Ginger Yellow![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 30, 2006 3:37 PM
Remember that the line about the land of the free and the home of the brave was written at a time when the southern half of the US had slavery.
Posted by: Alon Levy | January 30, 2006 7:17 PM
Okay, I confess I saw something and headed right over here to post it, and only chose this thread because a slight relevence (the fascism reference.)
So, is the thing at the end of this true? This alleges that Nazi Germany officially considered astrology as science.
(apologies to Godwin)
Posted by: just john | January 30, 2006 7:46 PM
I still find it incredible that these people act as if they will be in power forever and that the laws they push through will never be used against them or their supporters.
Do they know something we don't know?
Posted by: Ick of the East | January 30, 2006 7:47 PM
Do they know something we don't know?
Google "Hursti hack"
Posted by: Graculus | January 30, 2006 8:26 PM
Get a grip, Professor.
This is no different from what went on at Cow College when President Johnson visited in 1965. And one of my classmates was, indeed, arrested by the Secret Service for visiting his dormitory, which had been evacuated so we couldn't overlook LBJ's arrival.
Democrats then.
Posted by: Harry Eagar | January 30, 2006 9:27 PM
Original post:
[The] measure...would extend the authority of the Secret Service to allow agents to arrest people who willingly or knowingly enter a restricted area at an event, even if the president or other official normally protected by the Secret Service isn't in attendance at the time.
Harry Eagar:
Get a grip, Professor.
This is no different from what went on at Cow College when President Johnson visited in 1965. And one of my classmates was, indeed, arrested by the Secret Service for visiting his dormitory, which had been evacuated so we couldn't overlook LBJ's arrival.
Democrats then.
(emphasis added)
Not quite the same, is it?
Posted by: Nullifidian | January 30, 2006 11:36 PM
Yes, it's exactly the same. He was arrested before Johnson got there.
Johnson was there for about 3 hours. The no-go zone was in effect for nearly 3 days.
Posted by: Harry Eagar | January 31, 2006 12:28 AM
It's exactly the same to set up a zone around an area when a president is coming as it is to set up a sort of free-arrest zone when a president is not coming at all, does not need to come, nobody from the administration needs to come, nobody from the Supreme Court needs to come, nobody from the Congress needs to come, not even the local school board needs to come for it to be designated an "Special Event of National Significance." You're right. The parallel couldn't be clearer.
Posted by: Nullifidian | January 31, 2006 1:37 AM
Hey, poops to your pussy Patriot Act! Britain's got you outclassed now - as of the New Year a few little changes to the law mean that you can get banged up for a month without charge for effectively any offense - even littering:)
Posted by: outeast | January 31, 2006 5:38 AM
"And I thought the Patriot Act was creepy, before. *shudder*
What would you expect from a law with a name straight out of 1984?
*Double shudder*"
NO-NO: Double PLUS shudder
Posted by: Anonymous | January 31, 2006 3:47 PM
What would you expect from a law with a name straight out of 1984?
And the title of the post begs the response, "Best there is".
At least that's the (other apropos) literary (actually movie for me) reference I got from it. :)
Posted by: QrazyQat | March 29, 2006 6:32 PM