119. NickT says:
August 19, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Using terrorism statutes to routinely harass Laura Poitras and detain GreenwaldÂs spouse for nine hours is wrong because they arenÂt terrorists
This is ridiculously silly  and ignorant of how legal realities actually work. Statutes are given names partly to distinguish them from the mass of material passed through parliament, partly as a fairly loose guideline to the content of said statute. The name implies no limitation on the powers conveyed to the police and courts by said statute. In other words, it is perfectly normal for a non-terrorist to be detained under Âanti-terrorist legislation, just as, for example, it was normal (and necessary) back in the day for cyber-criminals to be detained under older legislation that had been written before the internet existed. ThatÂs simply the reality of how the legal system works  and always has. You wonÂt ever have a legal system that covers every eventuality with its own nicely labeled law  and so existing laws are extended to cover new situations. Nor is it unusual for a suspect to be detained for a period of some hours. As for the Âroutine harassment claim, that is an allegation made by Poitras, rather than an established fact.
FWIW.
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.