WASHINGTON

SENSENBRENNER MOVES TO EXTEND PATRIOT ACT PROVISIONS

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, introduced legislation yesterday that would make permanent all 16 expiring provisions of the USA-Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law passed weeks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The only changes Mr. Sensenbrenner is proposing to the Patriot Act’s legal standards relate to a provision for seizing business records in terrorism and intelligence investigations. Under the bill, business records pertaining to Americans or U.S. legal residents would be seized only if a federal judge determined they were likely to be relevant to an ongoing terrorism or “clandestine intelligence” probe. In addition, recipients of such orders could also consult with an attorney and challenge the orders in court. The new legislation would also allow judges to extend some wiretaps for a year at a time.

A spokesman said Mr. Sensenbrenner, a Republican of Wisconsin, does not support a Senate Intelligence Committee proposal to give the FBI broader power to obtain “administrative subpoenas” without judicial involvement.

Democrats and civil liberties groups said yesterday that Mr. Sensenbrenner’s bill fails to address the fusillade of criticism leveled at the Patriot Act. “It makes no real improvements from a civil liberties point of view,” said a judiciary committee member, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York. He called the legislation “very unfortunate” and predicted that during a committee session tomorrow Democrats will offer between 30 and 50 amendments, including a proposal to extend some provisions of the Patriot Act for four years. If the Congress does not act, many key provisions of the anti-terrorism law will expire at the end of this year.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MIDWEST

DEFENSE DEPT. ORDERED TO END SUPPORT OF BOY SCOUTS’ JAMBOREE

A federal judge has ordered the Department of Defense to end its support for the Boy Scouts’ national convention, or “Jamboree,” because the group excludes atheists and agnostics. Judge Blanche Manning of Chicago issued an injunction last month barring the military from supporting scout Jamborees, which have been held every four years since 1981 at the Army’s Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia. The injunction does not affect this year’s gathering, which is expected to begin on July 25 and to draw more than 40,000 scouts and scoutmasters.

In March, Judge Manning ruled that federal assistance to the event violated the Constitution in part because the Scouts distributed Bible passages to troop leaders at the Jamboree and described a prayer book as “required personal camping equipment.”The suit against the federal subsidy was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois on behalf of local religious and community leaders.

“We really think this is a mistake and error in the analysis of the court and certainly on the part of the ACLU, and it will be overturned,” a spokesman for the Boy Scouts, Robert Bork Jr., said. In an interview last year, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said he would “do everything” to preserve the military’s relationship with the scouts. A Jewish group, the Orthodox Union, issued a statement yesterday describing the court ruling as “very troubling” and noting that the needs of Orthodox Jews have been accommodated at the Jamborees.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

HEALTH

STUDY: DRIVERS USING CELL PHONES FOUR TIMES AS LIKELY TO CRASH

Drivers using cellular phones are four times as likely to get into a crash that can cause injuries serious enough to send them to the hospital, said an insurance study released today. Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests that using a hands-free device instead of a hand-held phone while behind the wheel will not necessarily improve safety. The institute said it was the first attempt to estimate whether phone use increases the risk of an injury crash in automobiles. “You’d think using a hands-free phone would be less distracting, so it wouldn’t increase crash risk as much as using a hand-held phone. But we found that either phone type increased the risk,” one of the study’s authors and the institute’s vice president for research, Anne McCartt, said. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that male and female drivers had the same increase in risk from using a phone, along with drivers who are older and younger than 30. With more motorists dialing and driving than ever, lawmakers have tried to find ways of reducing driver distraction.

– Associated Press