4,397 people and 28,463 financial records obtained via Patriot Act.

[Roland99]

And guess how many convictions?


10.

That's 0.23% of all "persons of interest". What a batting average!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13561813/site/newsweek/

Under a section of the USA Patriot Act passed by Congress in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, Treasury officials were given new powers to direct U.S. banks and other financial institutions to search their records for accounts or transactions involving any individuals or groups who come under scrutiny during investigations of terrorism and money laundering cases.

Although it has received little attention, the Patriot Act program has produced a wealth of previously unavailable financial data that has been shared with U.S. law enforcement agencies—without any notice to the account holders who are being investigated. Since the fall of 2002, when the program began, U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN)—an arm of the Treasury Department—has directed searches of 4,397 "subjects of interest" and received reports back on 28,463 accounts and financial transactions, according to recent Treasury records.

Once there is a positive "match" showing a suspect individual or company has conducted a financial transaction with a U.S. bank, FINCEN then notifies the law enforcement agencies, which can use the existence of a reported "match" as the basis for a grand jury or administrative subpoena. The Treasury records show that U.S. agencies have used the program to obtain 1,206 grand jury subpoenas and 328 administrative subpoenas. It has also led, according to the Treasury records, to 90 indictments, 79 arrests and 10 convictions.

Treasury Department officials last week cited those figures as evidence that the Patriot Act program has become an important tool that is being increasingly used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to obtain domestic financial records.

Yeah...what an asset that law has been.

:eyes:

[Darkhawk32]

1. I skimmed through and didn't get to see if this was answered or not...

But, how many of those 10 convictions could've occurred without the liberty-trashing Patriot Act?

My guess is... 10.

[TomInTib]

3. I don't doubt it at all.

The action was probably an ancillary assist to an original indictment, an after the fact application.

[indepat]

4. And how many convictions were of those friendly to this administration,

in fact how many persons of interest were those friendly to this administration and how many persons of interest have spoken out against this administration, its policies and actions: to wit, is person of interest a code word for the political enemy?

[Initech]

2. That's just it - it's not a war on terror, it's a war on personal freedoms

Keep that in mind at all times. All the Patriot Act does is override the freedoms we used to have. And it keeps the repukes in power for a long time to come.

:nuke:

[The Brethren]

5. We need to repeal the Patriot Act.

it's not etched in stone no matter what junior thinks.

[Roland99]

6. Does it still have a sunshine provision?

[The Brethren]

7. it's a lousy batting average.

the Patriot Act program has produced a wealth of previously unavailable financial data that has been shared with U.S. law enforcement agencies—without any notice to the account holders who are being investigated."

I'd like to know if they have been interested in approx. 5k "subjects of interests",why have they been given almost 30k accounts?

If the Patriot Act is not repealed, or as long as it continues to exist, a couple of solutions maybe for more privacy:

* Start doing all of your money transactions by cash only. Tear up your credit cards, close out your bank account and do things "the old fashion way." And if you have to use a bank acct., then keep the bare min. in it and pay the rest out of hand. I know that's not practical for most people and realistically won't happen. However, it would send a clear message to the banking industry, the federal reserve and the conniving, little chimp. It would also mean they can't track your information.

* Work to prevent becoming a cashless society - if it happens all of our transactions will be recorded and it'll make us completely dependent on electronic banking...which brings up other set of issues.

[Roland99]

10. I've thought of doing that but I enjoy the convenience of online bill pay

[The Brethren]

11. I know

it would mean a major change for most of us compared to what we're use to and so on. But in principle, I wish everyone could do it. :)

[The Stranger]

8. How many of those 10 convictions were plea deals from a Gitmo threat, and

extrajudicial incarceration outside the criminal justice system and the established court system?

[Roland99]

9. Or convictions on charges completely unrelated to terrorism!

[Oilwellian]

12. Such as....

mob related crimes? I think so.