Anti-terrorism bill rejected by Senate

MELANTHIA MITCHELL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Wednesday, March 13, 2002

OLYMPIA -- The efforts of Sen. Adam Kline paid off Tuesday as the Senate rejected House proposals that would create several new terrorism crimes and give authorities more leeway in tapping telephones.

Kline, D-Seattle, has been lobbying fellow legislators not to accept House changes to his bill, which he said is friendlier to civil liberties.

Kline's bill would create three new terrorism-related crimes and uses penalties already available under current law. It includes no provisions for wiretapping.

The House replaced Kline's language with House Bill 2416, allowing the state to prosecute suspected terrorists by using federal wiretap evidence, and House Bill 2879, making terrorism a felony.

Kline opposed the changes, saying the bills by Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, are unnecessary and overreaching.

HB 2416 would allow testimony from federal officers in state court on evidence gathered through a federal investigation, a provision not allowed under current law.

"Civil libertarians like myself, and Republican liberalists, want nothing to do with an expansion of wiretapping," said Kline, a member of the state American Civil Liberties Union.

In a 13-32 vote, the Senate refused to concur with the House on Senate Bill 6704, which now returns to the House for reconsideration.

If the House wants an anti-terrorism bill to pass the Senate, it will have to adopt the original Senate language, Kline said.

That version takes a narrower approach to terrorist intent by using current law to establish terrorist crimes.

"If they took the whole damn wiretapping piece off but left the underlying House version of terrorism, it would still be worse than our terrorism bill in terms of civil liberties," Kline said.

The Senate's decision surprised Hurst, who said he thought it would be a much closer vote.

"I can't believe we have so many people who are more concerned about the lives of terrorists than the lives of Washingtonians," Hurst said.

He said he would not change his bills, and the House will ask the Senate once again to agree to the House language. The adjournment deadline for the 60-day session is Thursday.

"People are going to have to decide whether they're going to vote on the only piece of terrorism legislation for this session," Hurst said.

Bills in other states have met a variety of fates.

Iowa passed Senate Bill 2146, making killing a person while taking part in a terrorist act a Class A felony, punishable by life in prison.

Virginia passed a bill increasing penalties for terrorist acts. The death penalty would apply for terrorists convicted in fatal attacks.

In Idaho, a House committee rejected bills to increase from misdemeanors to felonies the crimes of damaging energy generators and making false threats about terrorist acts.

On the Web:

Bill information

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to Legislature 2002 index