The patriotic review of the Patriot Act

The USA Patriot Act needs scaling back, not the expansion proposed by the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Congress overwhelmingly approved the USA Patriot Act just six weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a way to do something — anything — to fight terrorism. The law broadened federal investigators' ability to troll through private business records or search the property of Americans.

But 16 provisions are subject to expiration Dec. 31, triggering a new round of debate about the law. The act has done some good, such as breaking down walls between investigating agencies and matching investigative tools to modern technology.

But several new investigative powers are overreaching and should be changed to allay valid civil-liberty concerns. Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., proposed the Security and Freedom Enhancement Act (SAFE) to do just that.

SAFE would scale back both the ability of investigators to demand records from third parties — such as libraries and banks — and to forbid disclosure of the requests. The bill also would narrow the ability of investigators to obtain so-called "sneak and peek" search warrants and delay notifying the suspect for sometimes weeks or months.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, not only would keep the Patriot Act largely as is, he would add a particular distasteful authority. With the support of the Bush administration, Roberts wants to permit federal law-enforcement officials to issue and execute administrative warrants that require no judicial review.

The proposal is astonishing in its boldness — and Congress previously has rejected the notion. Without the requirement of a judge's OK, there is no immediate check on zealous investigators. Even when there is, there can be abuses.

Federal investigators secured search warrants for the home and office of lawyer Brandon Mayfield, whose fingerprint they insisted matched one linked to the Madrid terrorist train bombing. Turns out, the judge was misled by federal officials about the reliability of the fingerprint match. The Portland lawyer was exonerated, but not before his privacy was invaded.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials insist agencies have not abused the Patriot Act. As of April, sneak-and-peek warrants were issued 155 times, and business-records warrants were issued 35 times.

But maybe the restraint was because agencies knew Congress would be scrutinizing the Patriot Act's expiring sections this year. Without that check, who knows how the law could have been used?

Sens. Craig's and Durbin's bill keeps the positive aspects of the act but ensures modest, but critical, checks to protect civil liberties.