September 27, 2007 (LPAC)--A federal judge in Portland, Oregon ruled yesterday that key sections of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they permit the Executive branch to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens "without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."

The ruling, by Federal District Judge Anne Aiken came in the case of Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim lawyer who was wrongly arrested and jailed after the FBI had erroneously linked him to the Madrid train bombings in March 2004.

"For over 200 years, this nation has adhered to the rule of law -- with unparalleled success," Judge Aiken said. Responding directly to the government's arguments defending the searches and surveillance of Mayfield's home and office, she wrote that, "A shift to a nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill advised."

This is the second time this month that a federal judge has found elements of the Patriot Act to be in violation of the Constitution -- the other being a federal judge in New York who said that the use of so-called National Security Letters to obtain e-mail and telephone information without a court order is unconstitutional.

The "Protect America Act," which was rammed through an intimidated Congress right before the August recess, goes even further in permitting physical searches (formerly known as "black bag jobs") without a court order. In a series of hearings in Congress over the past two weeks, Administration witnesses have been confronted over this; their response has been that the government won't do this: "trust us."