(2004-08-30) Aclu Gag Letter

The Patriot Act includes a gag provision to keep people from disclosing to anyone that they received any requests for information from the government. The Justice Department [has](http://www.aclu.org/Safeand Free/Safeand Free.cfm?ID=16275&c=262) even tried applying that to controlling what the ACLU tells the public about its own lawsuits against the Patriot Act. They even redacted a quotation from a Supreme Court decision! The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government attempts to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect "domestic security." Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent. John Ashcroft should be impeached, he does not support the US Constitution.