Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 30. september 2004 / Timeline September 30, 2004
Version 3.529. September 2004, Oktober 2004
09/30/2004
Patriot Act subpoena of Internet data struck down
ACLU wins case against power to access personal information
- Julia Preston, New York Times
New York -- A federal judge struck down a key surveillance
provision of the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday, ruling that it
broadly violated the Constitution by giving federal authorities
unchecked powers to obtain private information.
The ruling, by Judge Victor Marrero of federal court in Manhattan,
was the first to uphold a challenge to the surveillance sections of
the act, which was adopted in October 2001 to expand the powers of
the federal government in national security investigations.
The ruling assails one piece of the law by finding that it violates
both free speech and unreasonable search protections, and is likely
to provide fuel for other court challenges.
The ruling came in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties
Union against a kind of subpoena created under the act known as a
national security letter. Such letters required Internet service
companies to provide personal information about their subscribers
and barred them from disclosing to anyone that they had received
the subpoena.
Such subpoenas could be issued without court review, under
provisions that seemed to bar those who received it from discussing
it with a lawyer.
Marrero vehemently rejected the provision, saying that it was
unique in American law in its "all-inclusive sweep" and had "no
place in our open society."
He ordered that his ruling would not take effect for 90 days, to
give the Bush administration time to appeal.
09/30/2004
Outsourcing the Pentagon: Who's Winning the Big
Contracts?
By: Nathan Kommers
Center for Public Integrity
No-bid contracts have accounted for more than 40 percent of
Pentagon contracting since 1998, the Center for Public Integrity
revealed today in an exhaustive reports on Defense Department
contracting.
Over the past six years, the Pentagon has awarded some $362 billion
to companies without competitive bidding. In fact, of the top ten
contractors, only one, SAIC, won more than half its dollars through
full and open competition. All the others won a majority of their
dollars through sole source and other no-bid contracts.
The report, which covers the period 1998-2003, also documents the
extent to which the Defense Department has become dependent on
outside contractors, finding that every annual increase in defense
spending has been matched by an equal increase in contracting.
Fully half the Defense Department budget-some $900 billion since
1998-has gone out the door to contractors rather than paying for
direct costs such as payrolls for the uniformed armed services.
To read the full report log on to
http://www.publicintegrity.org.
Center for Public Integrity
910 17th St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
ph: 202-481-1221
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