[JURIST] Rights groups are warning that the sweeping intelligence reform package now awaiting signature by the President after Senate passage yesterday is better than earlier versions but still contains multiple provisions that threaten privacy and personal freedom. An ACLU spokesperson said in a statement late Wednesday that "While some extreme anti-immigrant measures were rejected, the bill does include several unnecessary surveillance and other Patriot Act-like provisions not found in the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, but included at the insistence of several House members." She went on to argue that:

the compromise bill severely watered down a strong, independent review board designed to protect civil liberties. On one hand, lawmakers want to vastly increase the government’s power; on the other, they want to diminish oversight. The civil liberties board, as it currently stands, it little more than window dressing and a token nod to the freedoms that are an essential part of our society.

Read the full ACLU statement here. Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) has also issued a statement on the bill. AP outlines some of the key law enforcement and anti-terror provisions of the legislation here.