by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Eric Griego said several parts in the Patriot Act should be allowed to expire.
"We need to be very careful and vigilant in our rush to assume that giving away our constitutional rights will protect national security," he said.
Griego, Albuquerque City Councilor and mayoral candidate, spoke to about 15 people at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice on July 18, an event organized by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Kimberly Lavender, ACLU spokeswoman, said the event was not meant to educate people about the act.
"We realize for the most part we are preaching to the choir," she said. "We presented a forum for people to voice their concerns."
Lavender said 16 sections in the act will expire at the end of 2005. However, the federal government might decide to make some or all of them permanent, she said.
Lavender said many parts of the act, such as the sections that establish funds to help the families of victims of terrorism, should be kept in place. However, she said the government should not make any of the sections set to expire permanent.
Some of the sections set to expire include seize voicemail messages and authority to intercept wire, oral and electronic communications relating to terrorism, according to the act.
President Bush urged Congress to renew the Patriot Act in a speech Wednesday in Baltimore.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"The Patriot Act is expected to expire, but the terrorist threats will not expire," he said. "I expect - and the American people expect - the United States Congress and the United States Senate to renew the Patriot Act, without weakening our ability to fight terror."
Glen Loveland, spokesman for Rep. Tom Udall, said the act will probably be reviewed by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 21.
Valerie Gremillion, who spoke at the event, said the most alarming aspect of the act is that it undermines checks and balances set up by the Constitution.
For example, law enforcement does not have to immediately inform someone for whom a search warrant has been issued, if the warrant meets certain conditions.
According to the Patriot Act, a court must have reason to believe there will be an adverse result if the person is immediately notified that a search was executed, and the warrant must say the person will be notified within a reasonable amount of time. However, the court can later extend how long it waits before notification.
Lavender said that means the FBI could search people's homes and not tell them for months, or even indefinitely.
Student Jeremiah Ritchie said no parts of the act should be allowed to expire, because it has probably played a role in deterring attacks on the United States.
"Whatever we're doing is working, and we should keep doing it," he said.
Ritchie, who is also a member of UNM's College Republicans, said he isn't worried about the Patriot Act undermining the Constitution of the United States.
"I think we have plenty of checks and balances in place," he said. "Our system is very good at protecting our civil liberties."
Audience member Mervyn Tilden said the most interesting part of the meeting was not the information or opinions presented - it was the lack of participation. He was angry camera crews from local TV stations left about an hour before the meeting was over, he said.
Tilden was disappointed that most of the seats were not filled, he said.
"This is apathy," Tilden said. "It's happening before people's eyes, and they're doing nothing."
Student Robert Maldonado said the act has served its purpose, and should be allowed to expire.
"I think for a short period of time it was OK," he said. "But I think they've prolonged it a little too long."
Maldonado said legislators should prevent terrorism by correcting foreign policy instead of making the Patriot Act permanent.
Student Sarah Pohl said she had heard of the act, but did not know any specifics about it. She said the government should make an effort to educate people about the effects of the act before they decide to make any parts of it permanent.
"They should try to make it more easily accessible," she said.
Griego said every U.S. resident should be concerned about the Patriot Act.
"It's not a democratic issue. It's not a liberal issue. It's not a progressive issue," he said. "It's an American issue."
