The Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act () is legislation proposed by Senators

Larry Craig Lawrence Edwin Craig (born July 20, 1945) is an American retired politician from the state of Idaho. A Republican, Craig represented Idaho in the United States Senate from 1991 to 2009 and represented Idaho's 1st District in the U.S. House of ...

( R- ID), John E. Sununu ( R- NH) and Richard Durbin ( D- IL) which would add checks and balances to the USA PATRIOT Act. This legislation, which was introduced in the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

on April 6, 2005, would curtail some powers of the USA PATRIOT Act by requiring court reviews and reporting requirements. The SAFE Act would also revise the definition of "

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

" to exclude certain groups of people such as anti-war

protesters A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

and

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

demonstrators. This legislation was introduced to provide an alternative to the USA PATRIOT Act that some felt was too overreaching in its effort to fight

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

Reception

Some groups, such as

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

, condemned the SAFE Act for threatening the safety of Americans. Others, such as the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an American international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1990 to promote Internet civil liberties. It provides funds for legal defense in court, ...

, praised the legislation for protecting civil liberties.

External links

SAFE on THOMAS

References

Privacy law in the United States Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress Terrorism laws in the United States {{US-fed-statute-stub