YOU MEAN WE DON'T LIVE IN A POLICE STATE?:

Justice investigators find no abuses of anti-terrorism Patriot Act (CURT ANDERSON, January 27, 2004, Associated Press)

A Justice Department investigation into possible civil rights and civil liberties abuses under the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act found no abuses but a few instances of mistreatment of Muslim and Arab people, mainly at U.S. prisons, according to a report released Tuesday.

Among the 1,266 recent civil rights and civil liberties complaints received between June 14 and Dec. 15, 2003, only 17 involved Justice employees and merited a full investigation, according to the report by Glenn A. Fine, the department's inspector general.

Of those, most involved excessive force, verbal abuse and other alleged mistreatment at Bureau of Prisons facilities. [...]

Most of the complaints -- 720 -- were found to be "unrelated" to civil liberties or civil rights. These included people who claim the government is broadcasting harmful signals to people or that its agents are intercepting their dreams, according to the report.

81% of those latter complaints come from Dennis Kucinich and his supporters.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 27, 2004 3:29 PM