Avonte's Law killed - government mandated tracking concerns

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The House Judiciary Committee killed a bill Wednesday that some worry would have given the federal government sweeping power to mandate the electronic surveillance of people with conditions such as autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

Section 302 of the bill, which deals with “standards and best practices” for tracking devices, mandates the attorney general to determine who would benefit from a tracking device, who gets access to the government-maintained data system, and which kinds of devices can be used. It also mandates that any law enforcement agency receiving grant money as a result of the law must comply with the attorney general’s guidance on the matter.

Approval came one week after the legislation was nearly derailed. Privacy concerns from conservatives led the House Judiciary Committee to postpone a planned markup with little time remaining before the end of the current Congress.

In light of the concerns, language was added to the bill indicating that tracking devices would be “non-invasive and non-permanent” and that “the procedure to install the technology or device does not create an external or internal marker or implant a device or other trackable items.”

Tracking device advocates are flooding Senator Schumer’s office tonight asking him to push out Kevin and Avonte’s Law TONIGHT - which funds tracking devices for kids with disabilities. Just days ago, the House added language that would allow the police to use these tracking devices even outside the context of missing-persons cases. The House language would also scrap critical community-policing grants that benefit low-income communities and communities of color.

We need to make clear that we will never accept this assault on our civil rights and on the safety of our communities. Call Senator Schumer and your Senators NOW and tell him not to pass Avonte’s Law!

Senator Schumer’s office is (202) 224-6542. Find your own Senator’s contact info at http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact.

Script: “I, [Name], from [State], oppose Avonte’s Law. It would violate our privacy and take away funding for important community safety programs. Thank you for taking the time to hear from me.”

If you can’t call, you can ask someone to call on your behalf, or email Schumer and your Senators using their contact information here: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact.

I, *****, ****** oppose Kevin and Avonte's Law in its current form. While this law was created with good intentions the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The law as currently written would allow the use of these tracking devices outside of wandering cases. The proposed law in its current form is yet another step towered the slippery slope to an Orwellian security state that we have been on since 9/11. It is also a form of profiling. If a law was proposed to put tracking devices on black young males because they have a propensity for violent crime the reaction would be immediate and intense from most corners from our divided political spectrum. But when done to autistic people it is ok. No, it is not. Autistic young people have as much right to protections as any other minority group

Thank you for taking the time to hear from me.