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View Full Version : Tenn. bill criticized for targeting Muslims splits Tea Party -- Civil liberties victory!




sailingaway
05-22-2011, 07:38 AM
at least in part, since it passed once amended:


The Material Support to Designated Entities Act, proposed by state Sen. Bill Ketron and state Rep. Judd Matheny, both Republicans, exposed an ideological divide in Tennessee's Tea Party. It split Libertarians who supported Paul's candidacy for president from social conservatives concerned about national security who have supported Ketron and Matheny.

The split aligned Tea Party members who strictly interpret the Constitution with some unexpected groups over the bill, which -- until it was amended last week -- would have allowed the governor and attorney general to use secret evidence as proof that a group is involved in terrorism. The bill also would have presumed that any group they designated a terrorist entity was guilty until proven innocent, opponents said.

Libertarian objections helped convince the bill's supporters to scale back the legislation. An amendment leaves decisions over which groups are terrorists to the State Department, which already maintains a list of terrorist organizations. The amendment also toughened state penalties for supporting terrorist groups.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-05-22-tennessee-bill-tea-party_n.htm