ZGram - 5/24/2002 - "More snooping in the hopper"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

May 24, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

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Act Would OK Snail Mail Searches

By Declan McCullagh / May 23, 2002


WASHINGTON -- Just a few years ago, the U.S. Postal Service got 
savaged by privacy advocates after suggesting that private mailbox 
services were somehow objectionable.

Since services like Mailboxes Etc. could encourage fraud, the post 
office declared,  businesses must limit anonymity by demanding photo 
ID from all customers.

Three years later, the Postal Service's lobbyists are fighting for 
Americans' privacy rights -- and opposing a bill in Congress that 
would allow U.S. Customs agents to open any internationally-mailed 
letter or parcel for almost any reason.

So far, the Postal Service has had little luck: On Wednesday, the 
U.S. House of Representatives approved the new surveillance powers by 
a 327 to 101 vote. The bill, titled the Customs Border Security Act, 
says that incoming or outgoing mail can be searched at the border 
"without a search warrant."

The vote on the larger bill -- which deals mostly with the budget for 
the U.S. Customs Service -- came after a surprisingly heated debate 
on the House floor over an amendment that would have deleted the 
mail-snooping sections.

"Exercise of these new powers could infringe on the right of innocent 
Americans to travel and communicate internationally free of 
unnecessary federal control," says Pre. Ron Paul  (R-Texas), 
Congress' most ardent libertarian. "Please say no to unconstitutional 
searches and unaccountable government, and say yes to liberty and 
constitutional government "

Under current law, it is already legal for Customs agents to open 
packages they deem to be suspicious.

Rep. Maxine Waters  (D-California) sponsored the amendment, which 
also would have preserved the current legal status of Customs 
officers, who can be sued civilly for wrongful searches.

It failed. On a largely party-line vote of 197-231, with only five 
Republicans voting in the affirmative, the House rejected Waters' 
proposal and voted to keep the bill intact.

In other words, that retains the Customs Border Security Act's 
original language, which says a customs agent cannot be held liable 
for any type of search, including racial profiling, as long as the 
"officer or employee performed the search in good faith."

Last December, the House's previous attempt to pass the bill failed 
by a 256 to 168 vote. It was considered under a procedure reserved 
for ostensibly noncontroversial bills that requires a two-thirds 
majority.

Even critics of the Postal Service say the agency has -- at least in 
this particular legislative tussle -- been sticking up for privacy 
rights.

"While I have been publicly critical of the U.S. Postal Service for 
their poor overall record on privacy, I will admit that they have 
been consistent and resolute in their adherence to our Fourth 
Amendment protections against warrantless searches," says Brad 
Jansen, deputy director of the Center for Technology Policy at the 
Free Congress Foundation. 

But, Jansen says, the politicking may be mostly "a bureaucratic turf 
battle with Customs trying to poach authority from the Post Office."

Customs that it "is considered one of the most effective agencies at 
congressional" lobbying and says that the Customs Border Security Act 
"carries a great number of important legislative requirements for the 
agency."

Katie Corrigan, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties 
Union, says she was heartened by Wednesday's floor debate.

"They expressed concern that the bill would undermine individual 
privacy," Corrigan says. "With each step in the process, people 
become a little more educated. We hope that when it heads into (a 
future Senate-House conference committee), we can strip that section 
out."

Last December, the ACLU sent a letter to Congress saying that: 
"People in the United States have an expectation of privacy in the 
mail they send to friends, family or business associates abroad. The 
Customs Service's interest in confiscating illegal weapons' 
shipments, drugs or other contraband is adequately protected by its 
ability to secure a search warrant when it has probable cause."

In the Senate, a similar bill with identical mail-opening language is 
waiting for a floor vote, which is likely to happen as early as this 
week.

Democratic senators Jon Corzine (New Jersey) and Dianne Feinstein 
(California) are expected to introduce amendments to delete the 
mail-surveillance sections.

Other opposition to the mail-surveillance proposals comes from 
industry groups. The Direct Marketing Association says "this would be 
the first time since Ben Franklin created the Postal Service that 
seizure and searches, without warrants, of outbound international 
mail would be allowed."

[End]

(Source:  http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,52739,00.html )

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