Letter to the NYT
Dec. 17th, 2005 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libertangoSirs:
When Mr. Giuliani writes (on 12/17), "Americans must use every legal and constitutional tool in their arsenal to fight terrorism and protect their lives and liberties," he leaves out an important consideration: Effectiveness.
According to the Department of Justice's own statistics, there have been 401 criminal prosecutions under the USA PATRIOT Act in the four years since it was passed. The results have been only 212 convictions. This is a conviction rate of 53%. As Mr. Giuliani surely knows as a former prosecutor, this rate is barely better than the 50% of flipping a coin to determine guilt or innocence, and dismally below the 85-95% most prosecutors think necessary to get re-elected.
It is simply false to claim, as some of its proponents do, that the PATRIOT Act is either constitutional, or effective. It enhances our security not one whit. It failed on its merits.
Sincerely,
etc.
*^*^*^*
NOTES NOT SENT: This is largely a follow up to this post of July, 2004, for all that the topic has been in the news recently. But the numbers are not only no better than then, they've gotten decidedly worse. Since that post, there would appear to have been 91 additional prosecutions under the PATRIOT Act, but only 33 more convictions, even though those convictions were drawing upon the full four year pool. That's why the aggregate conviction rate has dropped since 2004, from 57.7% to 52.9%, or nearly five full percentage points.
So this would seem to be yet more evidence that it is also simply false to claim, as some do, that this administration gives a damn about combating terrorism. They simply want to play with their toys, and rescinding any portions of the PATRIOT Act qualifies mostly as taking toys away from them, friovolous and ineffectual as they may be. (The toys, not the administr------- oh, never mind.)
When Mr. Giuliani writes (on 12/17), "Americans must use every legal and constitutional tool in their arsenal to fight terrorism and protect their lives and liberties," he leaves out an important consideration: Effectiveness.
According to the Department of Justice's own statistics, there have been 401 criminal prosecutions under the USA PATRIOT Act in the four years since it was passed. The results have been only 212 convictions. This is a conviction rate of 53%. As Mr. Giuliani surely knows as a former prosecutor, this rate is barely better than the 50% of flipping a coin to determine guilt or innocence, and dismally below the 85-95% most prosecutors think necessary to get re-elected.
It is simply false to claim, as some of its proponents do, that the PATRIOT Act is either constitutional, or effective. It enhances our security not one whit. It failed on its merits.
Sincerely,
etc.
*^*^*^*
NOTES NOT SENT: This is largely a follow up to this post of July, 2004, for all that the topic has been in the news recently. But the numbers are not only no better than then, they've gotten decidedly worse. Since that post, there would appear to have been 91 additional prosecutions under the PATRIOT Act, but only 33 more convictions, even though those convictions were drawing upon the full four year pool. That's why the aggregate conviction rate has dropped since 2004, from 57.7% to 52.9%, or nearly five full percentage points.
So this would seem to be yet more evidence that it is also simply false to claim, as some do, that this administration gives a damn about combating terrorism. They simply want to play with their toys, and rescinding any portions of the PATRIOT Act qualifies mostly as taking toys away from them, friovolous and ineffectual as they may be. (The toys, not the administr------- oh, never mind.)
