>From the beginning, activists from both ends of the political spectrum raised concerns that some of these new powers, which were intended to target terrorists, could be used against ordinary people in violation of the Bill of Rights.

COMMON CAUSE has a long history of advocating for civil liberties. We have been monitoring the new powers granted since September 11, and we believe some of these powers step on the rights guaranteed to every American under the Constitution.

Today, people across America agree. Over 25 million Americans are now living in communities and states with new resolutions or laws upholding the Bill of Rights and opposing threats to these rights from the Executive branch's new powers.

Members of Congress, even those who originally voted for the Patriot Act, are also concerned and have introduced more than 20 bills that fix the worst parts of the Patriot.

One of these bills, the SAFE Act, may be voted on in the next few days as an amendment to an appropriations bill. The SAFE Act restores protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights by fixing three sections of the Patriot Act:

1)

The PATRIOT ACT threatens your First Amendment rights by letting the FBI go after your personal records without showing specific information that you are an agent of a foreign power.

The SAFE ACT requires the FBI to first show that your records are really related to a suspected terrorist or spy.

2)

The PATRIOT ACT puts at risk your Fourth Amendment right to be "secure . against unreasonable searches" by allowing the government to secretly search your home, without prior notice and with no time limit on when they have to tell you they did it.

The SAFE ACT will only allow this kind of search when there is danger to life, risk of destroying or tampering with evidence, or flight risk.

3)

The PATRIOT ACT also threatens your Fourth Amendment rights by allowing the use of "John Doe" roving wiretaps - with no name on the warrant.

The SAFE ACT requires that the warrant name or describe the target and each place to be wiretapped, especially if no one is present when the wiretapping takes place.

You can help get Attorney General Ashcroft off our backs.

CALL AND ASK YOUR SENATOR TO SUPPORT THE SAFE ACT.

If you know who your Senators are, you may call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for them directly:

202-224-3121

Otherwise, you can look up your Senators and their numbers here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

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