Big brother bill stripped down

The Nevada Assembly Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance a stripped-down version of a bill that would have allowed authorities to conduct secret searches on electronic communications and seize funds on prepaid debit cards without a warrant.

SB82 was amended so that what remains is the ability of law enforcement to read information on prepaid debit cards to help investigate money-smuggling by drug dealers or financing for terrorists.

"We think this is a good step forward for law enforcement," said Assistant Attorney General Keith Munro, whose office sponsored the bill. "The days of criminals carrying suitcases full of cash I won't say have ended, but they're now carrying prepaid (debit) cards. This will allow law enforcement the ability to read those cards and use them in prosecution of those cases."

Munro said that having the power to read the debit cards also will help his office to demonstrate at a future legislative session the need to be able to seize funds on prepaid cards.

"The need for the full bill was not shown, but this would give us another two years to see what's out there," said Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas. "They can come back here, and if they can show their need to be able to freeze and seize, then maybe we can do that. But at this point all we're going to talk about is reading the cards."

The original version of the Senate-approved bill was modeled after the USA Patriot Act, signed by then-President Bush in 2001, which gave authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in pursuit of possible terrorists.

Under the original SB82, authorities, including school police, could have required a cell phone company or Internet provider to hand over phone logs and the full text of e-mails and text messages. The bill also would have allowed no-warrant seizures of funds on prepaid debit cards.

"We truly commend the attorney general's office for narrowing this bill down to the necessary tools it needs for investigation, and removing the provisions that posed a constitutional threat to our privacy," said Lee Rowland, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

"This is now a sensible bill that will aid police in investigation, without raising the specter of warrantless searches and seizures, as the original bill did."