The United States has charged more than 30 people with providing material support to terrorist organizations. Legal Times journalist Siobhan Roth provides a status update on the cases.

Of the law, which carries up to 15 years in prison, Roth says

It has snared a Manhattan defense lawyer, a Florida professor, the "American Taliban," six in New York, four in Detroit, and, just last week, former Intel Corp. software engineer Maher "Mike" Hawash.

In addition to a providing a roundup of the cases, Roth says the Justice Department may make a move to strengthen the statute--through Patriot Act II.

The act [PA II] authorizes the executive branch to revoke U.S. citizenship for anyone convicted of providing material support to terrorists. The Justice Department said that the legislation was being discussed "at a staff level."

We've written extensively on the material support of terrorism law and cases, including this entry. More coverage is available in our Terror Trials Archives on the right.

Don't Miss:

David Niewert on Bush's military record. "What we know about his record now should be considered a scandal, and should have been since it was uncovered during the campaign." Lots of factual and other detail.

Josh Marshall on the press not picking up on Katrina Leung's Repbublican activism (Our prior coverage of it, which includes a long quote from Atrios, is here. Matt Yglesias says the story is really about the screwups of the FBI.

Daily Kos on Orrin Hatch's hypocrisy regarding judicial nominations and the "blue slip" rule.

Archpundit on Ashcroft's use of SAMMS (Special Administrative Measures) to impinge on the attorney-client privilege and restrict counsel's ability to meet with clients and adequately prepare a defense.

Tapped on legalizing marijuana.

Media Horse on the Bush Jet Gimmick.

Avedon Carol on the showdown at the FCC.

Patriot Watch says "PATRIOTWATCHERS--In the coming months be on the look-out for attempts by the administration and Congressional leadership to introduce pieces of PATRIOT II as individual legislation. We will be watching and keep you informed of any efforts to do so."

Arthur Silber at Light of Reason on yesterday's Senate action on the Patriot Act and how we are losing the war at home.

Just a reminder....if you value reading TalkLeft, we hope you will contribute throught the paypal or amazon links on the left. Every little bit helps.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced yesterday he would sign a bill passed by the Illinois Legisature requiring videotaping of all interrogations and confessions conducted while the suspect is in police custody.

The Chicago Tribune praises the legislation, saying Illinois will be the first state in the nation to mandate recording of such statements in full.

Videotaping keeps cops honest. But it also protects them by heading off false claims of brutality and allegations that statements were coerced. It's all there on tape.

This is a criticial reform and one that we hope will be enacted in other states.

Laura Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims Thursday, telling the panel that the Bush Administration should target terrorists, not immigrants. You can read her full testimony here. Murphy first criticizes the Administration's erosion of due process rights through mandatory detention, lengthy detentions without charges, holding immigrants ordered deported, and selective enforcement of obscure immigration infractions.

Update: The bill the Senate passed today is actually the same as the first section of Patriot Act II, which the Administration repeatedly has told us is a rough draft.

Section 101: Individual Terrorists as Foreign Powers. Under 50 U.S.C. § 1801(a)(4), the definition of "foreign power" includes groups that engage in international terrorism, but does not reach unaffiliated individuals who do so. As a result, investigations of "lone wolf" terrorists or "sleeper cells" may not be authorized under FISA. Such investigations therefore must proceed under the stricter standards and shorter time periods set forth in Title III, potentially resulting in unnecessary and dangerous delays and greater administrative burden. This provision would expand FISA's definition of "foreign power" to include all persons, regardless of whether they are affiliated with an international terrorist group, who engage in international terrorism.

Could this be the beginning of an attempt to pass the provisions of Patriot Act II piecemeal, thereby avoiding the controversial label "Patriot Act II" ? If another section of PA II gets introduced and passed this way, we foresee a monumental problem. The Schumer-Kyl bill was originally introduced on January 9, the same date on the draft of Patriot Act II. A coincidence? The Schumer-Kyl bill is S. 113.

The purpose of S. 113 is to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), title 50, United States Code, to permit surveillance of so-called `lone wolf' foreign terrorists. S. 113 would allow a FISA warrant to issue upon probable cause that a non-United States person is engaged in or preparing for international terrorism, without requiring a specific showing that the non-United States person also is affiliated with a foreign power. By eliminating the requirement of a foreign-power link for FISA warrants in such cases, S. 113 would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor foreign terrorists who, though not affiliated with a group or government, pose a serious threat to the people of the United States. In light of the significant risk of devastating attacks that can be carried out by non-United States persons acting alone, individual terrorists must be monitored and stopped, regardless of whether they operate in coordination with other individuals or organizations.

Update: The New York Times reports the overwhelming support for today's bill was the result of a compromise in which Senator Hatch pulled his request to repeal the sunset provisions of the Patriot Act.

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"The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill intended to close a legal loophole that lawmakers say prevented the FBI from obtaining a crucial warrant to conduct surveillance of Zacarias Moussaoui before the Sept. 11 attacks."

"The legislation, known as the 'Moussaoui fix,' was approved 90-4. It would make it easier for the FBI to seek warrants for wiretaps and searches on non-Americans suspected of planning terrorist attacks, by eliminating a requirement to show the suspect was connected to a known terrorist group or a country that sponsors terrorism."

We don't see this as closing a loophole but as giving the Government new powers. The current law only allows secret FISA wiretaps and searches if the target is the agent of a foreign power or organization. The "fix" will allow secret FISA wiretaps and searches if the Government can't link the target to a terror organization.

The bill is also known as the "lone wolf" bill and was introduced by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and John Kyl (R-AZ). It passed easily today, 94 to 6, and now goes to the House.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont criticized the bill, saying it wouldn't make Americans any safer. An amendment sought by Senator Dianne Feinstein was rejected.

Once again we are moving in the direction of giving more power to prosecutors with less judicial oversight. FISA judges must rubber stamp secret FISA applications for eavesdropping so long as the application is filled out correctly. They don't weigh the merits of the request. There is no disclosure of whether the warrants produce useful information so Congress can make sure the power isn't being misused by the Executive Branch. All that has to be disclosed is the total number of applications made and how many were granted or refused.

For more on the issue of FISA warrants, our prior coverage is here. Chisum Lee of the Village Voice recently wrote about Schumer and his quest to pass this bill in an article called "Ashcroft's New Ally."

"The House Judiciary Committee will investigate the role of a federal task force in the controversial drug arrests of 46 mostly black citizens at Tulia, Texas, nearly four years ago, a committee spokesman said Thursday. The undercover officer whose uncorroborated testimony led to 38 convictions in the small West Texas town was working for the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force."

Three Democratic members of the Congressional Black Caucus requested the review: Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Charles Rangel of New York and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.

The undercover agent has since been indicted on perjury charges. 13 defendants remain in jail, pending a decision by the Texas appeals court. Our complete prior coverage of the case is here.

Celebrities and activists gathered today in New York calling for the repeal of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.

The speakers at the news conference and at a rally near 40th Street and Third Avenue said thousands of non-violent black and Latino New Yorkers who used drugs or were caught with a small quantity were unfairly sentenced under the 30-year-old laws. The laws, passed in 1973 and 1974 during then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's administration, can subject first-time offenders to 15 years to life in prison if convicted of selling as little as 2 ounces, or possessing as little as 4 ounces, of a controlled substance.

Governor Pataki promised reform of the laws during his last relection bid, when he was courting the hispanic vote. His spokesman today said repeal has been stymied by the state legislature, and that Pataki hasn't been able to get a bill past both houses. That much is true. But the reason for the stalemate is that Pataki's reforms haven't gone far enough.

About 200 people attended the rally, including hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins and Al Sharpton. Sharpton pointed out that redemption and rehabilitation should be granted to all, not just presidential nieces.

ABC reports that the FBI was told 12 years ago that Katrina Leung was secretly working for the Chinese.

Now-retired FBI agent I.C. Smith says the FBI learned then that Leung had tipped off Chinese authorities about a secret mission he took to China to evaluate embassy security. He says he even took still photos of the Chinese agents he caught following him. "They knew we were coming before we even left," I.C. Smith said. Traveling with him to China, it turns out, was the other now-retired FBI agent accused of having a secret sexual relationship with Leung, William Cleveland of San Francisco. It was clear to him, I.C. Smith said, that at least 12 years ago a pretty big warning flag went up to the FBI. "There's no doubt about it," he said. "And I viewed that as absolutely a monumental management failure within the FBI that allowed this source to continue to operate."

Leung was indicted today on five charges, including "two counts of copying defense-related documents with reason to believe they would be used to the injury of the United States or to benefit a foreign nation and three counts of unauthorized possession of documents relating to the national defense."

We find it curious that Leung has not been charged with espionage. We suspect this is due to the Government's desire to avoid having to disclose classfied information to the defense.

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee reports that to date, one state and 102 cities, towns, and counties have passed resolutions opposing the Patriot Act.

As Bush gets ready to unleash Patriot Act II on us, we encourage all of you to check in with this site and the ACLU to learn how you can mount opposition in your town.

[link via PatriotWatch].

"Jan Arriens was so moved by a 1987 BBC film about a US death row prisoner, he wrote to the executed man's cellmates. The replies inspired him to found a group - now boasting 1,700 members - to correspond with condemned convicts."

We are reminded of Joseph Amrine, who sat on death row in Missouri for killing another prisoner from 1986 until until last week, when the Missouri Supreme Court vacated his death sentence and found that Amrine had shown "clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence that undermines confidence" in his conviction. When interviewed a few years ago for the Benneton anti-death penalty campaign, "We on Death Row," Amrine was asked what he would like people reading his interview to know.

"Could you put in there that I like to write? That if there's anybody out there that wants to write me, that I'll write him back."

[ed. note. Due to the controversy surrounding the Benneton campaign, it is no longer available on the Internet, to our knowledge. We have around ten hard copies of it left, which we use when we lecture on the topic of "Defending the Hated Defendant: Why We Do What We Do." About the size of an issue of Life Magazine, with similar full page pictures, it was included as a supplement to the now defunct Talk Magazine in January, 2000. If you can get your hands on a copy, we highly recommend it.]

Attorney General John Ashcroft is on the warpath again, trying to impose the death penalty in a state which doesn't allow for it. This time it's Minnesota.

Minnesota hasn't had an execution since 1906 when it hanged William Williams. The state doesn't have a death penalty law on the books. But that isn't stopping Ashcroft. Richard A. Oslund is awaiting trial in Minnesota state court on murder charges. Ashcroft's minions are considering stepping in to move the case to federal court where Oslund could be made to face the death penalty.

Oslund has a fairly routine murder case--the kind that is traditionally tried in state court. Ashcroft is using an interstate commerce connection to justify his attempt to remove the case to federal court.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has more on the Feeney Amendment and its restrictive effect on judges' sentencing discretion.

Some Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are taking a dim view of Feeney's idea. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said the law will result in "robot-like conformity" in sentencing, adding that it doesn't recognize that circumstances can vary in individual cases.

ABA Preident Alfred Carlton, who wrote a strong protest letter against the bill before it passed (as a last minute add-on to the Amber child alert bill,) has been in Washington recently to try and gather support for its repeal. Carlton thinks the bill was the result of the strong negative reaction to Congress's subpoena of Minnesota federal Judge James Rosenbaum's sentencing records in drug cases.

"It came out of nowhere," he said. "I think it was a result of the powers-that-be recognizing that the subpoena route wasn't going to be very fruitful. . . . Better to just go ahead and legislate -- and that's what they did."

The law also requires judges to give specific written reasons when they stray from the guidelines. Critics fear that judges will be intimidated and less likely to impose lenient sentences. "Every time you depart from the guidelines, the attorney general will be notified. Talk about a blacklist for judges," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

For more information on the Feeney Amendment, go here. For why the unprecedented subpoena of Judge Rosenbaum's sentencing records is a bad idea, go here.