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I think we will live to regret some of these expanded police powers!!
"http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=4&u=/washpost/20041210/ts_washpost/a53452_2004dec9" Measure Expands Police Powers
Fri Dec 10, 3:57 PM ET
By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer
The intelligence package that Congress approved this week includes a series of little-noticed measures that would broaden the government's power to conduct terrorism investigations, including provisions to loosen standards for FBI (news - web sites) surveillance warrants and allow the Justice Department (news - web sites) to more easily detain suspects without bail.
Other law-enforcement-related measures in the bill -- expected to be signed by President Bush (news - web sites) next week -- include an expansion of the criteria that constitute "material support" to terrorist groups and the ability to share U.S. grand jury information with foreign governments in urgent terrorism cases.
These and other changes designed to strengthen federal counterterrorism programs have long been sought by the Bush administration and the Justice Department but have languished in Congress, in part because of opposition from civil liberties advocates........
• Suspects in major terrorism crimes automatically would be denied bail unless they show they are not a danger or a flight risk. Advocates say the provision is modeled on similar rules for certain drug crimes, but Mitchell said it would increase the possibility of indefinite detention in alleged terrorism cases.......
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