Oregon Judge: Parts of Patriot Act Are Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Oregon has struck down parts of the Patriot Act after ruling they violated the 4th Amendment, the Oregonian reports:

An Oregon judge Wednesday struck down a key portion of the USA Patriot Act, ruling that it violated the U.S. Constitution's ban on unreasonable search and seizure.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Patriot Act gives federal agents too much unchecked power in conducting criminal investigations of U.S. citizens.

"The (government) here is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. This court declines to do so," Aiken wrote.

"For over 200 years, this nation has adhered to the rule of law -- with unparalleled success. A shift to a nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised."

The ruling specifically concerns the Patriot Act's amendments to the FISA program:

Before the Patriot Act, Aiken wrote, "the three branches of government operated with thoughtful and deliberate checks and balances -- a principle upon which our nation was founded. These constitutional checks and balances effectively curtail overzealous executive, legislative, or judicial activity regardless of the catalyst for over-zealousness. The Constitution contains bedrock principles that the framers believed essential. Those principles should not be easily altered by the expediencies of the moment."

The Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, expanded the power of federal agents to pursue suspected terrorists in a variety of ways. A key change involved the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows federal agents to get a warrant to search for foreign intelligence.

Foreign intelligence warrants do not require evidence that a crime has been committed, but merely that the subject is an agent of a foreign power. The Patriot Act also made it easier to use foreign intelligence warrants to collect information for criminal prosecution.

The lawsuit was brought by Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield after he was mistakenly identified as a terrorist linked to the Madrid train bombings:

Mayfield was an obscure Oregon lawyer when the FBI concluded shortly after the Madrid terrorist attacks that his fingerprint matched one found near the bombings.

Federal agents obtained a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to search Mayfield's house and office and conduct surveillance.

Mayfield, a Muslim, was later taken into custody as a material witness, but he was released and exonerated after Spanish authorities determined that his fingerprint was not a match.

Mayfield sued.

He said the Patriot Act changed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to allow federal agents to bypass the Constitution's requirements for getting a criminal warrant.

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