UDawg
03-19-03, 02:46 PM
This is how messed up the great state of Washington is.
:confused:
State House passes anti-terrorism bill
03/19/2003
Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The state House passed an anti-terrorism bill a few minutes before midnight on Tuesday, sidestepping a fight over gun control that had threatened to stall the measure.
Requested by Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine O. Gregoire, House Bill 1210 would create six new terrorism-related crimes, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction, making terrorist threats, and providing material support to terrorists.
The measure was sent to the Senate on a 77-20 vote.
"This is very important legislation, especially in light of the fact we might be at war tomorrow," said Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace. "We might be living in a whole new environment. We'll wait and see." A standoff developed last week when Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, introduced an amendment to include firearms as weapons of mass destruction .:confused: In response, Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, introduced an amendment specifically excluding firearms from the list.
Both lawmakers agreed to drop their amendments, but Darneille remained dissatisfied.
She said anti-terrorism laws such as the measure the House passed Tuesday restrict freedom while doing little to make people safer.
"Throughout our country's history, the need for security has been used as a pretext for violation of civil rights," Darneille said Tuesday. "This wave of anti-terrorism actions, all in the name of national security, has launched the most serious civil rights crisis our nation has ever seen." Civil liberties groups and defense lawyers oppose the bill, saying it's redundant and could impose overly harsh penalties for some crimes.
Buck argued that the bill would protect residents against threats that people never imagined before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Current state law is inadequate to deal with people who would use airplanes or tanker trucks as bombs or would send white powder in the mail to scare others into thinking it's anthrax, he said.
"We lived in a much more innocent world," Buck said.
Buck mentioned the discovery of six envelopes containing white powder which turned out to be farina, a type of ground wheat, on Monday in Seattle. Some of the envelopes also contained anti-war messages.
"The best we could probably do is come up with malicious harassment" for whoever planted the powder, Buck said.
A similar bill passed the House last year but with provisions for the death penalty in some cases and to allow the use of federal wiretap evidence. Civil libertarians in the Senate - especially then-Judiciary Chairman Adam Kline, D-Seattle, balked, and the bill died.
Federal law allows the taping of telephone conversations with the consent of anyone on the line. State law requires the consent of all parties to the conversation.
This year's bill doesn't contain the wiretapping or death penalty provisions.
In addition, control of the state Senate has switched to Republicans, so the bill stands a much better chance this time.
:confused:
State House passes anti-terrorism bill
03/19/2003
Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The state House passed an anti-terrorism bill a few minutes before midnight on Tuesday, sidestepping a fight over gun control that had threatened to stall the measure.
Requested by Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine O. Gregoire, House Bill 1210 would create six new terrorism-related crimes, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction, making terrorist threats, and providing material support to terrorists.
The measure was sent to the Senate on a 77-20 vote.
"This is very important legislation, especially in light of the fact we might be at war tomorrow," said Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace. "We might be living in a whole new environment. We'll wait and see." A standoff developed last week when Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, introduced an amendment to include firearms as weapons of mass destruction .:confused: In response, Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, introduced an amendment specifically excluding firearms from the list.
Both lawmakers agreed to drop their amendments, but Darneille remained dissatisfied.
She said anti-terrorism laws such as the measure the House passed Tuesday restrict freedom while doing little to make people safer.
"Throughout our country's history, the need for security has been used as a pretext for violation of civil rights," Darneille said Tuesday. "This wave of anti-terrorism actions, all in the name of national security, has launched the most serious civil rights crisis our nation has ever seen." Civil liberties groups and defense lawyers oppose the bill, saying it's redundant and could impose overly harsh penalties for some crimes.
Buck argued that the bill would protect residents against threats that people never imagined before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Current state law is inadequate to deal with people who would use airplanes or tanker trucks as bombs or would send white powder in the mail to scare others into thinking it's anthrax, he said.
"We lived in a much more innocent world," Buck said.
Buck mentioned the discovery of six envelopes containing white powder which turned out to be farina, a type of ground wheat, on Monday in Seattle. Some of the envelopes also contained anti-war messages.
"The best we could probably do is come up with malicious harassment" for whoever planted the powder, Buck said.
A similar bill passed the House last year but with provisions for the death penalty in some cases and to allow the use of federal wiretap evidence. Civil libertarians in the Senate - especially then-Judiciary Chairman Adam Kline, D-Seattle, balked, and the bill died.
Federal law allows the taping of telephone conversations with the consent of anyone on the line. State law requires the consent of all parties to the conversation.
This year's bill doesn't contain the wiretapping or death penalty provisions.
In addition, control of the state Senate has switched to Republicans, so the bill stands a much better chance this time.