WESTERN BUREAU – A former United States defence attorney Friday urged the Jamaican Government to oppose the US Patriot Act, saying it had severely limited the constitutional protection of foreigners and Americans, if they were classified by the US as supporting terrorist activities.

“The Jamaican Government should oppose this Act either by demanding treaties with the United States or say, for instance, that no Jamaican charged under this statute will ever be extradited to the United States,” said David Baugh, who has worked as a US Government defence lawyer for more than five years.

At the same time, Baugh called on the US Government to repeal the Patriot Act which was passed after the 9/11 attacks on the US.

“I am in favour of the constitution of the United States, and this Act is against that constitution because it diminishes the protection of the constitution,” argued the noted lawyer, who has been in the profession for almost 30 years. “I believe it (the Act) is “un-American”. I believe it limits the freedom of people around the world and should be repealed,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Baugh is among the more than 80 high profile African-American judges and lawyers attending the 10th anniversary conference of the Jamaica Sunset Continuing Legal Education (CLE) in Negril, and is one of the presenters at the conference.

The conference attracts judges and lawyers from Louisiana and other jurisdictions for professionally stimulating and fruitful discussion of cutting-edge legal matters.

Baugh insisted that the Patriot Act, among other things, had granted sweeping powers to the US Government, eliminating or weakening many of the checks and balances that remained on government surveillance, wire-tapping, and criminal detention.

It also targeted immigrants under the pretext of fighting terrorism by opening sensitive visa files to local police for the enforcement of complex immigration laws, Baugh said, stressing that the Act had far-reaching implications for Jamaicans – both locally and in the US. He pointed to the countries’ strong banking ties which he said could be severely affected by the Act.

“Because of the money-laundering implications of the statute, Jamaican banks could be subject to US prosecutions,” Baugh said. “Jamaican banks’ assets could be subject to seizure; employers of Jamaican financial establishments who are in the US could be subject to arrest because some organisations give money to another organisation through a Jamaican bank.”

“Those are just some of the implications the Act can have, and it is possible for both Americans and Jamaicans to run afoul of the law before even realising it,” he added.

The six-day Jamaica Sunset CLE meeting began Friday in conjunction with the Louisiana Judicial Council/National Bar Association and ends this Wednesday.

Tomorrow, the meeting will be addressed by National Security Minister Dr Peter Phillips and Tourism Minister Aloun N’Dombet Assamba, following a televised address to the participants from Prime Minister PJ Patterson.