Patriot Act not so patriotic?

First the City of Portland threatens to pull out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and now the legislature in the Red State of Montana condemns the Patriot Act.

The resolution, which does not carry the weight of a law but expresses the Legislature's opinion, encourages Montana law enforcement agencies not to participate in investigations authorized under the Patriot Act that violate Montanans' constitutional rights. It requests all libraries in the state to post a sign warning citizens that under the Patriot Act, federal agents may force librarians to turn over a record of books a person has checked out and never inform that citizen of the request.

The resolution asks Montana's attorney general to review any state intelligence information and destroy it if is not tied directly to suspected criminals. It also asks the attorney general to find out how many Montanans have been arrested under the Patriot Act and how many people have been subject to so-called "sneak and peaks," or government searches of a person's property without the person's knowledge.

This follows a threat by Portland, Oregon's mayor to pull the city out of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force unless the federal agency gives him and the city police chief a higher security clearance.

Mayor Tom Potter and other city officials want expanded oversight over any FBI anti-terror operations that include Portland police officers.

They want to be certain that Portland police officers are not engaged in activity that violates citizens constitutional rights.