PORTLAND, Oregon - September 29, 2011 - On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that two provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of Amerikan citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."