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Onerous provisions of the Patriot Act - due to expire this year - that violate the constitutional civil liberties of U.S. citizens should be allowed to expire, ACLU representatives said Friday in Billings. Other extreme portions of the act should be repealed, they said, pointing out that leading conservatives are in the position to get Congress to ensure that Americans are both safe and free. Phil Gutis and Matthew Bowles of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington, D.C., office, and Scott Crichton, the Montana ACLU state director, are traveling around the state and the country enlisting support for "bringing the Patriot Act in line with the Constitution." "Bridges are being built," said Gutis, director of the ACLU legislative office. He noted that former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Georgia, a conservative who led the impeachment process against President Bill Clinton, was among those supporting the ACLU effort. A resolution in the Montana Legislature calling on Congress to protect civil liberties passed the Senate on a vote of 40-10, with strong support from conservative Republicans, Crichton said. Matthew Bowles, a national field organizer for the ACLU, said, "We make the argument to conservatives, 'Do you really want somebody who does not like you to have these powers? When Hillary becomes president they could be turned on you.' We are getting support from the left, the right, the center." More importantly, Bowles said, is the SAFE Act, sponsored by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, which would revoke provisions of the Patriot Act that are not due to sunset. The Security and Freedom Ensured Act would remove the "extreme provisions of the Patriot Act such as the sneak peek provision that allows federal agents to go into a citizen's home and never tell him or her about it. The government can seize personal records, including what books you've checked out of the library, all without any judicial oversight. [more]

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