here’s an interesting article at legalaffairs.com about the usa patriot act. 2 law professors (the one is also a judge) debate both sides of civil liberties & protection against evil. 
currently, the exact same arguement is taking place is taking place in AU (although i don’t think the word ‘unpatriotic’ has been used here – at least not to the same extent). The same sort of laws are trying to be pushed thru parliment w/o debate. crikey gives a quick overview (the usual…. detain w/o needing a reason, don’t allow the detained any sort of lawyer, shoot to kill).
this is one of 2 legislative bits right now that are being hidden from the public & being pushed into law. (it has been leaked so you can ck it out here)the other deals with workers rights (as in taking them away). anddon’t get me started on that at the moment …