Sedition Law Used to Hold Suspects
Thursday November 8 2:28 PM ET
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Prosecutors seeking to hold people they suspect were in the early stages of terrorist plots may turn anew to a very old weapon - the Civil War-era law on sedition.
Last week, prosecutors cited the rarely invoked law in the case of a student being detained in New York, and hinted they might make fuller use of it in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
With roots in laws that date back more than 200 years, the statute gives the government great flexibility in assembling prosecutions against people who plan but don't carry out criminal acts against the United States.
Federal prosecutors ``appear to be right on the money'' in using the sedition law to address possible terrorist collaborators, George Washington University law professor Stephen Saltzburg said. <snip >
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011108/us/attacks_sedition_1.html
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Government proposes rule to eavesdrop on phone calls between lawyers and clients in terrorist probe
By PETE YOST The Associated Press 11/8/01 6:38 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government says it can get around attorney-client confidentiality as it investigates the terrorist attacks by allowing prisons to monitor phone calls and mail of some of those jailed after Sept. 11.
A rule published Oct. 31 in the Federal Register says the monitoring can take place when Attorney General John Ashcroft concludes there is "reasonable suspicion" that the communications are designed to further terrorist acts. The rule went into effect the day before it became public.
"The immediate implementation of this interim rule without public comment is necessary to ensure" that the Justice Department "is able to respond to current intelligence and law enforcement concerns relating to threats to the national security or risks of terrorism or violent crimes," the new rule states.
The American Civil Liberties Union decried the change. <snip>
http://www.masslive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0784 _BC_Attacks-Monitoring&&news&newsflash-washington