New York Senate Votes to Create Nation’s First “Terrorist Registry”


In addition to being available to law enforcement officials, non-confidential information listed in the New York State Terrorist Registry will be open to members of the public:

“‘This would give local law enforcement the tools that they need so that they are aware if there is somebody in their community that has been convicted of terrorism who still may be a threat to the safety and security of Americans,’ said Senator Young.

The New York State Terrorist Registry would be made available to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.”

Although we are promised that only those actually convicted of terrorism will make it onto the list, Rare points out that a conviction isn’t needed per the actual legislation:

In fact, that section includes four separate circumstances under which someone who has never been convicted of terrorism could be placed on the public registry should this bill become law.

The two most concerning of these are in subsections (d) and (e):

(d) listed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s terrorist screening center on the terrorist screening database; and/or 3

(e) identified by the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of State, the United States Department of Justice, the United States Department of Defense or any of its armed services, the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and/or the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as a person who has committed a terrorist act against the United States or any of its citizens, and/or who is a member of a designated terrorist organization pursuant to section 1189 of title 8 of the United States Code.

The short version: if the federal government says you’re a terrorist—without providingany concrete proof or due process as required by the Constitution—you’re a terrorist, and New York State will list you in a public terrorist registry.

We all know that the DOJ considers right wingers to be terrorists. So, this amounts to an official label being placed on American citizens who have never committed a crime. This will make it possible ‘to do away with’ whoever they see fit whenever they whenever they see fit. But it also will cause many to keep quiet about their beliefs so they don’t end up in this registry. Your name, description, address, occupation, and photo would all be available to anyone with Internet access: your neighbors, employers—anyone.

And once a registry is created, it’s not difficult to imagine additional regulations following, particularly residency rules like those some jurisdictions apply to convicted sex offenders now, which ban them from living in certain parts of town.

It’s difficult to overstate how alarming it is that a bill this dangerous to due process and individual liberty has actually passed a state legislature. After all the uproar over Donald Trump’s outrageous Muslim registry idea, the New York state senate has quietly created a program that in its vagueness could pose an even more expansive threat.

Source: WGRZ, Rare



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