Editorial: Were critics right?

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003 | 8:40 a.m.

We learned from Sept. 11 that the federal government needs the authority to move quickly in the event of suspected terrorism. There is no time to wait if credible evidence of a plot to kill Americans is uncovered. This is why the USA Patriot Act became law.

From the outset, however, critics of the law have predicted that it would be abused. They labeled the Patriot Act as a crack in the U.S. Constitution and warned that it would be continually widened. They asked: How long will it be before any investigation can draw upon the new powers?

The news that the FBI has used powers granted in the Patriot Act to investigate political corruption in Southern Nevada seems to justify the critics' fears. The corruption involves strip clubs and allegedly dishonest public officials who exchanged their votes for money. If any of it is true, it would indeed be corruption of the most sordid kind -- but nothing even close to terrorism.

Congress should revisit the Patriot Act and remove any ambiguous language. It should do this any time a police agency finds language supposedly justifying its use of the law in an investigation not related to terrorism. We expect very judicious use of this law. Abuse could lead to the law's repeal, which could be tragic given the current state of the world.