A license to witch-hunt

[Hannah Bell]

THE U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a part of the USA PATRIOT Act that criminalizes free speech as "terrorism"--and the Obama administration, which was expected to stop its predecessor's assault on the Constitution, is celebrating the decision as a victory...The justices agreed with the arguments of the Obama administration--specifically, its choice to sit on the Supreme Court, former Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who made the White House's case before the court.

The administration opposed a lawsuit brought by the Humanitarian Law Project that challenged the law's provision that prohibits material support--specifically the giving of "expert advice or assistance"--to groups designated as "terrorist" by the U.S. State Department.

The law project wanted to provide advice to two groups--the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Kurdistan Workers' Party--on peacefully resolving disputes and working with the United Nations. But in his opinion justifying the decision, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the motives of the Humanitarian Law Project didn't matter, and any assistance to a group on the State Department's terrorism list represented "material support..."

As David Cole, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, told the Times, "This decision basically says the First Amendment allows making peacemaking and human rights advocacy a crime." ...the lawyers who argued the case pointed out that the impact goes further--the Patriot Act's material-support provision is so vague that humanitarian groups and journalists and their sources can be ensnared.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/23/license-to-witch-hunt

[hvn_nbr_2]

1. Buying Congress is "speech". Actual speech is not "speech"

See how easy it is to be a radical activist corpo-judge? You just make up stupid bullshit that gives corporations, warmongers, and hate-freaks whatever they want.

[amborin]

3. +100

[TexasObserver]

2. recommend

[Uncle Joe]

4. What does it take to declare a group as being "terrorist?"

I imagine this is also part of the motivation for that "Kill switch" for the Internet which Lieberman has proposed, we can't have too much peace breaking out.

Thanks for the thread, Hannah Bell.

[Nikki Stone1]

5. Kick

.