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FCPC ALERT #2005-5
www.FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org
Originally Published on 29 June 2005
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This message is intended for members of the Fairfax County Privacy Council, and
anyone else who might be interested in advancing privacy in Virginia. Maximum
dissemination of this message is encouraged!
Privacy Notice: All communication from the Fairfax Privacy Council is sent
using blind carbon copy ("BCC") format for your security and privacy.
ALERT ITEM SUMMARY:
1. Photo-Red Light Surveillance Sunset
Celebration Rally (Thursday, 30 June)!
2. FCPC Quarterly Public Meeting – Thursday, 30 June
3. PATRIOT Act Reform Update – Some Good News and Bad
News
4. Privacy Quote: "It's an airline policy that requires
a photo ID..."
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1. Photo-Red Light Surveillance Sunset Celebration Rally (Thursday, 30
June)
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The public is invited to join FCPC and the Fairfax County Libertarian Party
members for a Photo-Red Light Surveillance Sunset Celebration Rally on
Thursday, 30 June at 7PM at the intersection of Fairfax County Parkway and Loisdale Rd (vicinity the “Hunter Hotel/Restaurant,” just
north of Telegraph Road on the "detached segment" of the Fairfax
County Parkway near Ft. Belvoir). Link up time is
Issue Highlights:
At
The 2005 Virginia General Assembly refused to renew this experiment in
“due-process light” in part because a state sponsored study indicated that the
scheme not only appears to not improve public safety, but that it’s use is
actually correlated with an increase in accidents at some intersections.
In what appears to be a symbolic act of rudeness toward the General Assembly, a
few weeks ago the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to strike the
County Staff’s routine proposal to remove the County’s photo-red light
surveillance ordinance from the County Code as the ordinance is now preempted
by state law. Nonetheless, at http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/fcdot/redlight,
the
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2. FCPC Quarterly Public Meeting – Thursday, 30 June
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FCPC will meet at
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3. PATRIOT Act Reform Update – Some Good News and Bad News
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Law enforcement officials have made at least 200 formal and informal inquiries
to libraries for information on reading material and other internal matters
since October 2001, according to a new study that adds grist to the growing
debate in Congress over the government's counterterrorism powers..."What
this says to us," said Emily Sheketoff, the
executive director of the library association's Washington office, "is
that agents are coming to libraries and they are asking for information at a
level that is significant, and the findings are completely contrary to what the
Justice Department has been trying to convince the public” (see “Libraries Say
Yes, Officials Do Quiz Them About Users,” The
New York Times, by Eric Lichtbrau, 20 June 2005; http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/20/politics/20patriot.html?
adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1119283915-FaV1ZkT2mgR6Fi).
**The Good News: The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted
unanimously to draft a letter outlining specific criticism of the Patriot Act,
which may be sent to the county's three
**The Bad News: The letter is pretty weak compared to the letters sent to
Congress by some 389 localities and states around the country including
***The Good News: The House of Representatives passed the Freedom to Read
Act, stripping away FBI powers to secretly seize library records with judicial
oversight or warrant (see “House Votes To Curb Patriot Act: FBI's Power to
Seize Library Records Would Be Halted,” The
Washington Post, By Mike Allen, 16 June 2005; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/15/AR2005061501953.html).
TAKE ACTION at https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=227&JServSessionIdr005=wb7watbl52.app25a
and tell the US Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass the Freedom to Read
Act. NOTE: Representative Tom Davis (R-Fairfax County) voted against the
Freedom to Read Act, just as he did some months ago when he switched his “yes”
vote to a “no” vote, along with 9 other Republican Congressman, after the
measure appeared to have already passed –the House Chair then ruled that the
measure died as a result of a tie vote.
***The Bad News: Senate subcommittees are working to greatly expand the
federal government’s power under the PATRIOT Act to secretly seize records
about you with little or no judicial oversight. TAKE ACTION at http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=31
to learn about these efforts, and tell the Senate to oppose this expansion of
the PATRIOT Act.
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4. Privacy Quote: "It's an airline policy that requires a
photo ID" …
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Amy Von Walter, spokeswoman for the TSA, confirming that “The law does not
require identification to be shown” (see “Security witness sounds alarm on fake
IDs,” The Washington Times, by
Stephen Dinan,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050513-115327-9578r.htm).
FCPC Comment: If presentation of IDs to board domestic passenger aircraft
flights is not a “federal purpose,” then the mainstream Congressional
justification for passage of the REAL ID Act was purely chimerical.
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Questions, or to be added/deleted from future Alerts? Contact Mike
Stollenwerk atFCPCChairman@cox.net.