Source:
VA Pilot OnlineCHESTERFIELD
In the basement of a building between an IHOP and a car dealership sits the nexus of Virginia’s fight against terror.
There, people who need special clearances pass through layer after layer of security on their way to a conference room so secure no one can have a cell phone or a piece of electronic equipment inside. The door locks alone cost $4,000 apiece.
Most people know little about the Virginia Fusion Center. And if a bill quietly wending through the General Assembly becomes law, they’ll know even less. The bill, coincidentally named HB1007, would exempt the center’s investigative and intelligence documentation from the state Freedom of Information Act and would shield its employees from subpoenas in civil lawsuits concerning criminal intelligence information or terrorism investigations.
Del. David Marsden, D-Burke, who voted against the bill earlier in the session, but later relented, called the proposal “a hold-your-nose bill.” “If it’s becoming the secret police bill, that’s a problem,” Marsden said. “And we’ll need to fix that. For me, it comes across as a threshold … 51 good to 49 problematic.”
Read more:
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/secrecy-bill-state-antiterror-agency-has-some-crying-foul
Love that quote from delegate Marsden
“a hold-your-nose bill.” “If it’s becoming the secret police bill, that’s a problem,” Marsden said. “And we’ll need to fix that.Ummmm, wouldn't it be a little late to
fix at that point?
Is this how it starts? Is the plan for our government to be infected by these
"fusions centers" at the state and local level, much like the wingnut CONservatives began infecting our School Boards and City Councils several decades ago?
Perhaps I'm overreacting to this, but I don't hink the marriage of federal, state, and local law enforcement to spy on its citizens is what the founders had in mind.
This bill would protect even those who "tattle-tale" on you without evidence of a crime. That has to be a divorce lawyers worst nighmare, or best friend.
Yeah, I guess passing laws that are "51% good, 49% bad" is really what we've come to expect as the norm.