P related: Patriot Act news

[barbara100 at jps.net]

http://www.news-leader.com/today/0915-PatriotAct-163897.html

Patriot Act used to catch common criminals
In one case, a man accused of running a meth lab is charged with making
chemical weapons.

By David B. Caruso
Associated Press

Philadelphia - In the two years since law enforcement agencies gained fresh
powers to help them track down and punish terrorists, police and prosecutors
have increasingly turned the force of the new laws not on al-Qaida cells but
on people charged with common crimes.
[   ]
Civil liberties and legal defense groups are bothered by the string of
cases, and say the government soon will be routinely using harsh
anti-terrorism laws against run-of-the-mill lawbreakers.
[   ]