UNCIVIL LIBERTIES Is the Patriot Act fit for freedom lovers? BY BRIAN C. JONES

The anti-terrorism law, nicknamed the USA Patriot Act, contains a number of provisions that give the willies to people worried about Big Brother-style government.

Among the controversial items is the so-called "Library Provision," which allows the government to obtain library, medical, and a slew of other personal records under a process so secret that the individual whose data is taken may never know it happened. In fact, the record-holders are forbidden from even saying documents have been snatched.

Then there’s the "sneak and peak" section, allowing government agents to break into someone’s home or business, and haul away potential evidence without informing them about it for an unspecified time.

Just as scary is trying to get your arms around what the Patriot Act really does — and doesn’t do. In fact, it’s not a single law, but modifications of 15 prior laws. To understand the details, you have to know about what the old laws did and how the Patriot Act, enacted after the 9/11 terror attacks, changed them. Then you have to understand how the Constitution’s core values are affected.

It’s this complexity that makes the Patriot Act debate infuriating, because it’s easy for partisans to argue their case passionately — even factually — without getting to the truth of whether basic American liberties have been corrupted.

For example, Patriot Act defenders will tell you that investigators have always been able to get your library records. Critics will respond that the new process, done through a secret court, involves looser legal standards and is made worse by that nasty gag provision.

This shouldn’t discourage freedom lovers from trying to take a run at deconstructing the Patriot Act. Two sets of forums will give them a fresh opportunity:

F ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 AT 7 PM, THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF RHODE ISLAND IS SPONSORING A FORUM AT THE ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL IN BRISTOL. SCHEDULED PANELISTS: US ATTORNEY ROBERT C. CORRENTE; STEVEN BROWN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION’S RHODE ISLAND CHAPTER; ROGER WILLIAMS LAW PROFESSOR PETER MARGULIES; AND MODERATOR BETSY ALDRICH GARLAND, BENEFICENT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH ADMINISTRATIVE MINISTER.

F ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 AT THE NEWPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND’S "PARTY ROOM" IN THE STUDENT UNION, BOTH STARTING AT 7 PM, THE ACLU IS SPONSORING FORUMS FEATURING US ATTORNEY CORRENTE AND JERRY ELMER, A PROVIDENCE LAWYER KNOWN FOR HIS ANTI-VIETNAM WAR ACTIVISM.

The discussions are particularly timely because Congress is in the final stages of making some revisions — although not many — to the Patriot Act, including possible changes to the library section.

The League of Women Voters, studiously non-partisan when it comes to candidates and political parties, is troubled by some Patriot Act particulars. "It does leave civil liberties wide open to being abused," says Hollie Courage, the league’s Rhode Island president. "So much can be ruled secret, and you are not supposed to be talking about it."