The so called"Patriot Act" vs. The Bill of Rights

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (genericly includes all women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un-alien-able rights http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alienable , that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Declaration of Independence

I invite you to realize that our founding documents declare ALL the people of the world are granted by our CREATOR “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The first ten amendments to the Constitution also called The Bill of Rights further enumerate and elaborate and define but not limit our God Given Rights.

According to our Founding Fathers, our CREATOR ENDOWS us, not a big government. But that BIG Government would be chained down by the Constitution (to borrow the words of Jefferson).

According to our Founding Fathers who subscribed to Natural Law as laid out by Cicero, John Locke, and others including our Biblical writers:

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to Free Speech;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to bear arms as a preventative against tyranny;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to be secure in our property, our person, our papers and effects;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to not be rail roaded into self incrimination;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to confront our accuser and a jury of our peers;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to NOT be subject to excessive bail or cruel and inhumane punishment;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS We The People with the RIGHT to ALL Powers Not specifically Enumerated to the Federal Government;

Our CREATOR ENDOWS us with the RIGHT to reside in a Sovereign State and County for the purpose of experiencing Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Our Bill of Rights in our Constitution binds government down to stop it from infringing on our Natural Individual Rights.

The Purpose of government is to PROTECT the Natural Rights of The People, NOT the Corporations. And a government not on Purpose will eventually self destruct in time and it should be destroyed if it is The People's OPRESSOR and not OUR PROTECTOR. Let no man put assunder what God ordained and our Founders Chartered.

December 15, 1791

Preamble

Congress OF THE United States
begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday
the Fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.:

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The "Patriot" Act represents a dark moment of fear-imposed unfaithfulness to the Bill of Rights -- a retreat from what we know, in our hearts, is proper and just.

That which is un-Constitutional cannot be "fixed" or "reformed." It must be repealed by morally courageous Americans laying down the lawful rule of law to their congress persons. I'm hoping that's you.



But the Patriot Act cannot be "fixed" or "reformed" for another reason. It is pernicious. It has created ample opportunities for the FBI to abuse its powers.



As the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has uncovered, the FBI has been intoxicated with lawlessness as a result of this terrible law. The FBI's crimes include . . .
* submitting false or inaccurate declarations to courts
* using improper evidence to obtain federal grand jury subpoenas
* accessing password protected documents without a warrant
* and much more: https://www.eff.org/pages/patterns-misconduct-fbi-intelligence-viol...
The EFF reports that "in an audit of only 10% of national security investigations . . . the FBI may have committed as many as 3,000 NSL (national security letter) violations and had failed to report many of those violations to the IOB (Intelligence Oversight Board)."
The EFF estimates that the FBI has broken the law 40,000 times since 2001.
40,000 times! Do incentives matter? This law seems to be an inducement to illegal behavior, doesn't it? But it gets worse, because . . .
Fellow Americans have nowhere to turn to protect ourselves.
* President Obama hasn't instituted meaningful reforms, and
* YOUR Congress, hasn't held the rogue FBI accountable.
Lawlessness in the federal government is by far a bigger threat to America -- to Americans -- than terrorism is. Get on the phone and tell Your Congress Person to REPEAL THE PATRIOT ACT! Don't renew it.

"If Big Brother (of Orwell's 1984) comes to America, he will not be a fearsome, foreboding figure with a heart-chilling, omnipresent glare as in 1984. He will come with a smile on his face, a quip on his lips, a wave to the crowd, and a press that (a) dutifully reports the suppressive measures he is taking to save the nation from internal chaos and foreign threat; and (b) gingerly questions whether he will be able to succeed." -- Michael Parenti, Source: "Inventing Reality" (1986)

I'm disturbed by Congress's negligent oversight of the Patriot Act . . .

* They haven't established that any of the powers given to the FBI and other federal agencies have actually PREVENTED acts of terrorism
* They have failed to investigate the FBI, or hold it accountable, for possibly tens of thousands of abuses https://www.eff.org/pages/patterns-misconduct-fbi-intelligence-viol...

As a result . . .

* I don't feel that the Patriot Act has made us "safer"
* I'm more afraid of federal agents than I am of terrorists

Instead of renewing provisions of the Patriot Act, Congress should REPEAL all of it. And then they should hold hearings to investigate FBI abuses.