"Patriot Act II" Provisions in H.R. 10 (As Passed by House)

"Patriot Act II" Provisions in H.R. 10 (As Passed by House)

These provisions either amend sections of the USA PATRIOT Act or are drawn from a draft Justice Department proposal that circulated in 2003, the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act," also called "Patriot II." They were added by the House leadership over the objections of members of the 9-11 Commission and victims' families. Except for the first three, none had received a hearing before any committee of Congress before they appeared in H.R. 10.

*23 new federal death penalties for crimes on list of terrorism offenses (sec. 2502). Under current law, 20 of 43 federal "crimes of terrorism" carry a death sentence if death results. This provision applies a death sentence to all such crimes - including such broad crimes as material support of the lawful activities of a banned organization, financing of groups with links to terrorism, or damage to a federal building. A prosecutor who is unable to prove a defendant guilty of hijacking, bombing or other offenses that already carry the death penalty could still seek to execute a defendant based on other charges.

*Presumption of detention for any person charged with crime on list of terrorism offenses (sec. 2602). This provision relieves the government of the burden of having to show with evidence, at a bail hearing, that a suspect is dangerous or likely to flee - instead, the suspect would have to prove they are not dangerous and are not likely to flee. The presumption already applies in international terrorism cases; this provision would apply the presumption to all cases where a crime listed as a terrorist crime is charged

*Lifetime supervision for any person convicted with crime on list of terrorism offenses (sec. 2603). The government could impose supervision requirements, potentially for life, for any person convicted of a terrorism crime - and potentially incarcerate the person if those conditions are not met.

*Expand "material support" crime to make a crime for U.S. citizens to be members of a designated terrorist organization (sec. 2043) even if they provided no funds. The United States has never before in history made it a crime for citizens merely to be a member of any organization, unless membership involved violent or illegal activity.

+Allow information about U.S. citizens obtained by a federal grand jury to be shared with foreign governments without judicial approval (sec. 2191) Amends grand jury secrecy rules to allow information about American citizens to be shared with foreign governments, including repressive governments such as Syria, Iran or North Korea, without judicial approval.

*Secret surveillance of non-citizens not connected to terrorist groups. (sec. 2001). Expands "national security" surveillance - surveillance approved by a secret court without probable cause of crime - to include any non-citizen (other than a lawful permanent resident) who is suspected of involvement in terrorism even if not connected to any foreign government or terrorist group.

*Suspend writ of habeas corpus, severely limiting power of courts to review detention and deportation, including some claims that a detainee will be tortured if returned (sec. 3010). Limits the power of federal courts to review immigration actions by explicitly suspending, for the first time since the Civil War, the "Great Writ" of habeas corpus, limiting all judicial review of detention and deportation to one appeal to the federal courts of appeals, under an extremely narrow standard that allows the courts to consider only "pure questions or law" or constitutional claims. Claims that are explicitly barred from review include some claims under the Convention Against Torture, claims for discretionary humanitarian relief (such as a non-citizen father of a severely disabled U.S. citizen child who is the child's sole caregiver), and all claims involving criminal convictions, even in cases that occurred years or decades ago involving lawful permanent residents who came to the United States at an early age.

+Applies USA PATRIOT Act guilt-by-association provisions to allow removal to a country where a non-citizen's "life or freedom would be threatened" because of race, political opinion, or other reasons (sec. 3031). Provides that any non-citizen who is described in section 411 of the USA PATRIOT Act - which bar admission to any non-citizen the government says supports a political group that has ever used violence - may be removed to a country where his "life or freedom would be threatened because of the alien's race, religion" or other protected ground. Currently, bar applies only to those convicted of serious crimes or that the government says are "a danger to the security of the United States."

+Outsource torture with "diplomatic assurances" - indefinite detention of "dangerous" non-citizens without any court review (sec. 3032). Allows removal to countries that practice torture with "diplomatic assurances" that a detainee will not be tortured; effectively amends section 412 of the USA PATRIOT Act to authorize Secretary of Homeland Security to designate, in his "sole unreviewable discretion," certain non-citizens as "specially dangerous aliens" for indefinite and potentially life-long detention, with judicial review barred entirely

*Remove non-citizens to failed states, countries that won't accept them, and countries to which the non-citizen has no connection whatsoever (sec. 3033). Allows government to remove non-citizens to countries that lack a functioning government or whose government will not accept them, as long as the foreign government does not "physically prevent" their return, and allows non-citizens to be exiled to a county with which they have no connection whatsoever if the country accepts them.

+Expand USA PATRIOT guilt-by-association provisions (sec. 3034). Amends section 411 of the USA PATRIOT Act to make it even easier to bar non-citizens who are members or support any political organization that has used violence, even if the organization has not been designated as a "foreign terrorist organization", expands exclusion to include innocent spouse or minor child, and requires "clear and convincing evidence" for non-citizen to prove he should not have known such an organization that has never been designated had used violence (defense is never available for designated organizations).

+Makes USA PATRIOT Act guilt-by-association provisions grounds for deportation of long-term lawful residents, even if association occurred years or decades earlier (sec. 3035). The new, broader guilt-by-association grounds for barring non-citizens accused of involvement with any political group that uses violence are made retroactive and could be used to deport long-term, lawful residents, even if the association occurred decades earlier and was legal at the time.