Editing Legal Matters (section)

==The Patriot Act==

Praised by some, criticised by others, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act USA Patriot Act] is one of the defining pieces of legislation from the days following [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_Terrorist_Attack September 11th, 2001].  Seen by most as an "anti-terrorism" law, the Patriot Act's purpose is largely to expand law-enforcement powers to keep up with advancing technology.  Simply put: if the authorities were formerly able to seize your
mail or faxes, or were able to wiretap you, once they had a warrant,
they can now also (with a warrant) seize your voicemails and email and
chat logs and such.  The act also includes a string of commands for intelligence agencies to do their jobs better - to share information with each other, to hire more translators, etc. 

The full text of the Patriot Act can be found [http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12251&c=207 here].  That said, the intricacies of government legal jargon are not the easiest things to understand.  See commentaries from [http://slate.msn.com/id/2087984/ the slate.com] and [http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12126&c=207 the aclu].  Also see [[ The Patriot Act For Dummies]].

===Changes in Section 412===
The Patriot Act in the world of the American Gods game contains one key difference from the one in the real world.  This difference appears in Section 412, '''MANDATORY DETENTION OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS; HABEAS CORPUS; JUDICIAL REVIEW.''' 

The Section discusses the rules under which the Attorney General may take suspected terrorists into custody.  The differences appear in three paragraphs, quoted below (the differences appear in italics):
* (1) CUSTODY - the Attorney General shall take into custody any alien who is certified under paragraph (3) ''and any deceased bodies and organic materials involved in acts certified aliens engaged in to so certify them.''
* (2) RELEASE- Except as provided in paragraphs (5) and (6), the Attorney General shall maintain custody of such an alien ''or alien material'' until the alien is removed from the United States. Except as provided in paragraph (6), such custody shall be maintained irrespective of any relief from removal for which the alien ''or alien material'' may be eligible, or any relief from removal granted the alien, until the Attorney General determines that the alien is no longer an alien who may be certified under paragraph (3). If the alien is finally determined not to be removable, detention pursuant to this subsection shall terminate.
* (3) CERTIFICATION - The Attorney General may certify an alien under this paragraph if the Attorney General has reasonable grounds to believe that the alien -  
** (A) is described in section 212(a)(3)(A)(i), 212(a)(3)(A)(iii), 212(a)(3)(B), 237(a)(4)(A)(i), 237(a)(4)(A)(iii), or 237(a)(4)(B); or
** (B) is engaged in any other activity that endangers the national security of the United States.
** ''(C) is declared deceased, upon declaration all organic material becomes materials in accordance with 213.''