Editing Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003

The '''Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003''' was draft legislation written by [[United States Department of Justice]] during the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|George W. Bush administration]], under the tenure of [[United States Attorney General]] [[John Ashcroft]]. The [[Center for Public Integrity]] obtained a copy of the draft marked "confidential" on February 7, 2003, and posted it on its [[Web site]] along with commentary. It was sometimes called '''Patriot II''', after the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which was enacted in 2001. It was never introduced to the [[United States Congress]].

The draft version of the bill would have expanded the powers of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal government]] while simultaneously curtailing [[judicial review]] of these powers. Members of the [[United States Congress]] said that they had not seen the drafts, though the documents obtained by the CPI indicated that [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] [[Dennis Hastert]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Dick Cheney]] had received copies.

Provisions of the draft version included:
*Removal of court-ordered prohibitions against police agencies spying on domestic groups.
*The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] would be granted powers to conduct [[Search and seizure|searches]] and surveillance based on intelligence gathered in foreign countries without first obtaining a [[Search warrant|court order]].
*Creation of a [[DNA database]] of suspected [[terrorism|terrorists]].
*Prohibition of any public disclosure of the names of alleged terrorists including those who have been arrested.
*Exemptions from [[Civil law (common law)|civil]] [[Legal liability|liability]] for people and businesses who voluntarily turn private information over to the government.
*Criminalization of the use of [[encryption]] to conceal incriminating communications.
*Automatic denial of [[bail]] for persons accused of terrorism-related crimes, reversing the ordinary [[common law]] [[Legal burden of proof|burden of proof]] principle. Persons charged with terrorists acts would be required to demonstrate why they should be released on bail rather than the government being required to demonstrate why they should be held.
*Expansion of the list of crimes eligible for the [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]].
*The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] would be prevented from releasing "worst-case scenario" information to the public about chemical plants.
*[[United States nationality law|United States citizens]] whom the government finds to be either members of, or [[Providing material support for terrorism|providing material support]] to, terrorist groups could have their [[Naturalization#Denaturalization|citizenship revoked]] and be [[Deportation|deported]] to foreign countries.

Some provisions of this act have been tacked onto other bills such as the Senate Spending bill and subsequently passed.

The [[American Civil Liberties Union]] and the [[Bill of Rights Defense Committee]] have all been vocal opponents of the PATRIOT Act of 2001, the proposed (as of 2003) PATRIOT 2 Act, and other associated legislation made in response to the threat of domestic terrorism that it believes violates either the letter and/or the spirit of the U.S. Bill of Rights.

On January 31, 2006, the Center for Public Integrity published a story on its website that claimed that this proposed legislation undercut the Bush administration's legal rationale of its NSA wiretapping program.

==See also==
*[[ADVISE]] 
*[[National security]] 
*[[United States Bill of Rights]] 
*[[COINTELPRO]]
*[[Bill C-51 (41st Canadian Parliament, 2nd Session)]]

== External links ==	 
*[http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/377/ Original 2003 report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203094655/http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/377 |date=2008-12-03 }} from the [[Center for Public Integrity]] including draft copies of the legislation.
*[http://www.cdt.org/security/patriot2/030317coalition.pdf March 17, 2003 letter in opposition to DSEA] from a coalition of organizations from the [[Center for Democracy and Technology]] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080116033319/http://w2.eff.org/Censorship/Terrorism_militias/patriot-act-II-analysis.php Analysis of "Patriot II"] from the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]

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[[Category:Dennis Hastert]]
[[Category:Privacy law in the United States]]
[[Category:Patriot Act]]
[[Category:United States proposed federal legislation]]