Osama bin Crip

A Kansas man who was allegedly a major cocaine supplier for the Wichita Crips gang has been arrested and charged with numerous felonies regarding his drug activities.

All for the good, except for one minor detail - the man's attorney has found out that the Federal government used the "secret warrant" provision of the Patriot Act to enter and search the man's house without giving any notice whatsoever, and didn't bother to inform the suspect about the search until 90 days after it happened.

Isn't this provision of the Patriot Act the same one that the Feds promised us was only going to be used to keep track of and do battle with foreign terrorists, and that these tactics weren't ever going to be used on American citizens for such run-of-the mill offenses as, oh, I don't know, local gang drug activity, as odious as that crime may be? This analysis of current surveillance law in the U.S. states that "As originally passed, any FISA investigation must have had the collection of Foreign Intelligence Information as its sole or "primary purpose." The USA-PATRIOT Act expanded the application of FISA to those situations where foreign intelligence gathering is merely "a significant" purpose of the investigation." (Emphasis mine)

Somehow I just don't see how dealing crack on a Kansas street corner could possibly have any, much less a "significant" foreign intelligence purpose.

"In an affidavit filed in July seeking the search warrant, a federal agent said a secret search was necessary to protect evidence and to prevent suspects from fleeing or from intimidating witnesses."

[Scratches head] Wouldn't protecting evidence and keeping crooks from fleeing be primary objectives of just about every warrant that gets served? It's pretty much why one obtains a warrant in the first place, as far as I know.

I guess any crime can be linked with foreign terrorism, if one tries super-hard and comes up with enough tortured logic. Coming soon - random secret warrant searches of your home. After all, you might be harboring Al-Qaeda spies right now. If something else gets found, why, that's just your tough luck.