Drug-Tunnel Bust Aided By Controversial Provision Of USA Patriot Act

Investigators were able to surreptitiously install video and audio bugging devices in the tunnel after receiving a judge's approval to search the passage under a controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act. By obtaining a so-called "sneak-and-peek" warrant, law-enforcement officials were able to enter the tunnel, and bug it, without immediately telling the suspects a warrant had been issued. Regular search warrants require that the subject of a search be notified immediately after it has been conducted. As Congress prepares to reauthorize some parts of the terrorism-fighting Patriot Act this summer, some legislators and civil-rights groups say that power is too broad and want to regulate the ways police can conduct searches. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently introduced a bill that would greatly limit how "sneak-and-peek" actions are conducted. "I think that the power that the government has under the Patriot Act ... is clearly contrary to the notion underlying the Fourth Amendment," said former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, a Republican from Georgia who leads the Patriot Act reform organization Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances. Sneak-and-peek "is being used in cases that have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism," Barr said. When police want to search a suspect's property, a judge has to determine there is probable cause before issuing a warrant. After police search the property, they are normally required to leave a notice with explanations of the areas searched and items removed, if any. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002413803_sneakpeek01m.html

Note: http://seattletimes.nws...