Time: Tue Jul 22 17:59:17 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA22224 for [address in tool bar]; Tue, 22 Jul 1997 17:58:55 -0700 (MST) by usr10.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id RAA05118; Tue, 22 Jul 1997 17:57:03 -0700 (MST) Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 17:56:33 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Washington Post on FBI (fwd) <snip> > >"Is the FBI Becoming Too Powerful? Public Safety and Civil Liberty in the >Era of Louis Freeh?" Washington Post Magazine, July 20, 1997 written by >Jim McGee > >Here are some key quotes, with emphasis added (all caps) here and there >for editorial purposes > >"On May 9, 1995, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh finished a letter that set >down his vision of the bureau's future. It was just three weeks after the >bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the >worst act of DOMESTIC TERRORISM in U.S. history." > >"Louis Freeh has obtained most of what he sought in that 1995 letter--and >more. The bureau's budget has soared, INCREASING 47 PERCENT from $2.1 >billion when Freeh took over to $3 billion in the current fiscal year. >Jurisdiction over new areas has been assigned to the FBI. The CIA has >been integrated into the FBI's operating system..." > >"They are building something America has never really had before: a robust >national police system." > >"The argument against consolidation is that it may create a concentration >of federal police power at odds with American tradition--power that, >history suggests, MIGHT EVENTUALLY BE ABUSED by an unscrupulous FBI >director." > >"Hardly anyone in Congress is worried that Freeh is going to abuse the >power being handed him these days; if they worry at all, they tend to >worry about who may come after Freeh, or what may occur in spite of him." > >"Of course, implicit in the support Freeh has won is a viewpoint that many >Americans find acceptable today, but which would have been highly >contentious only 20 years ago. The FBI can be trusted." > >"Under the looser (Reagan Atty. Gen. William French) Smith guidelines in >the '80s, the FBI had great success against terrorists. The bureau >hammered down the rate of domestic political violence to virtually nil and >estimates that it prevented more than 50 planned terrorist attacks." > >"The teletype affirmed that FBI agents should now feel comfortable in >being more aggressive in their preliminary domestic investigations--and >not just of groups. 'Now we can take a look at individuals,' is how >Robert M. Blitzer, head of the FBI's domestic counterterrorism section, >described this change in an interview." > >'As a result, the number of open domestic security investigations has >risen from appoximately 100 in 1995 to more than 800. The basic change, >FBI officials say, reflects a greater number of investigations of suspect >individuals, as opposed to groups." > >"'I consider it my job' to ensure that civil liberties are not violated, >Attorney General Reno said in an interview, 'and so far nobody's pointed >out to me where we have failed.'" > >"The changes at the FBI do not only involve amending old rules and >widening jurisdiction. The agency is also interweaving itself with the >rest of the NATIONAL SECURITY establishment. > >"One example can be found each weekday morning at FBI headquarters, where >ARMY COL. John J. Ellis reports for duty in plain-clothes. In his back >pocket are FBI credentials, which get him through security...to the FBI's >new counterterrrorism center, where Ellis serves as a deputy section >chief." > >"With more than 100 staff members, the center is the hub for a much >larger FBI-led counterterrorism bureaucracy that reaches major U.S. >cities through a network of 13 Joint Terrorism Task Forces, where agents >and local police detectives gather intelligence on POLITICAL ACTIVISTS OF >ALL KINDS who MIGHT be inclined toward violence." > > CONCLUDING THREE PARAGRAPHS, COMPLETE TEXT > >"Freeh sees all these changes as a natural and necessary evolution of >federal policing in response to serious threats. As he said in a speech >delivered not long after the Oklahoma City bombing, 'We do not have a >civil liberties crisis in America. Nor are we under siege by enemies, >domestic or foreign. Americans do not have to make a choice NOW between >safety or freedom... (ellipsis in the original) > >"'But at the same time,' he continued, 'we have not spent over 200 years >carrying out history's most successful experiment in liberty to have it >destroyed by crime, fear, and terrorists.' > >"Such are Louis Freeh's good intentions, that much seems clear. Where the >road they pave will lead is a murkier question." > <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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