15 Jun 2005
US House votes to curb Patriot Act, defies Bush

Well, the House apparently grew half a testicle, anyway. But the thing that really caught my eye here is this gem of a quote from Rep. Christopher Shays, a Republican from Connecticut:

"You all seem to want to wait until the crime is committed and then you can use your criminal law to get at it. We want to detect and prevent it," Shays said.

That's right, Mr. Shays: we fervently believe that the province of criminal law is one of punishment, not prevention. Think about what you're saying here: we could prevent about 70% of all violent crimes by locking up all African-American males between the ages of 18 and 34 ... is that the kind of country you want to live in? Imagine the crimes we could prevent by having all communications monitored, all travel recorded, all purchases tracked. Is this what you're trying to accomplish? No thank you, sir. I'll take my freedom as straight up as I can get it, for as Thomas Jefferson once said, "Those who desire to give up Freedom in order to gain Security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday defied President Bush by approving a measure making it harder for federal agents to secretly gather information on people's library reading habits and bookstore purchases.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

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