More than 100 attend Patriot Act forum

The Patriot Act establishes a gag order by criminalizing the actions of people who tell their clients the federal government was seeking their private records.

That's according to a field representative with the American Civil Liberties Union, who spoke to more than 100 people Tuesday night at a forum on the Patriot Act at the Brewery Arts Center.

"They're not allowed to tell you they turned over information," said ACLU field representative Matt Bowles. "We have no way of knowing how the government is using this information because no one is allowed to tell us."

According to him, the Patriot Act, which went into effect in October 2001, upended the government's system of checks and balances.

"This is a government that is supposed to be accountable to the people. Since 9/11, that relationship has been fundamentally changed. This is a government that is out of control," he said to resounding applause.

He believes Nevada is a key state for opposition to the act, particularly because the largest affront to civil liberties under the Patriot Act took place in Las Vegas as New Year's Eve 2004 rolled in, he said.

"The FBI enlisted the local police to collect personal information on over 300,000 people over a two-week period who rented a car, flew into Vegas, and stayed at a hotel. None of those people was suspected of being a terrorist."

Bowles urged citizens to work to have Carson City pass a resolution declaring that agencies run by the city would not work with federal agents unless probable cause could be shown that individuals are involved in terrorism.

"The difference before 9/11 is they actually had to suspect you of doing wrong," he said. "Now they don't."

Sara Jones, administrator of the Nevada State Library and Archives, spoke on the portion of the Patriot Act affecting libraries.

"Librarians in Nevada and across the nation do want to support the war on terror," she said. "What we want to make sure is we don't have to offer up things we don't have to."

Librarians have always upheld their relationships with patrons as if their exchanges were privileged information.

That has changed with the Patriot Act,

"(The FBI doesn't) have to demonstrate a probable cause," she said. "They just have to have a suspicion."

Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.

More information:

• To help form a resolution against the Patriot Act , call Bob Tregilus of the Nevada Campaign to Defeat the Patriot Act at 826-4514.

• Read about Nevada Campaign to Defeat the Patriot Act at ndcpa.org or the Bill or Rights Defense Committee at bordc.org.