The Justice Department is considering establishing a new policy that would allow the FBI to target Americans for investigation even in the absence of evidence or other compelling indications that the person was breaking a law, according to the Associated Press.

The policy, being considered as part of the attorney general's guidelines to the FBI, would allow the agency to conduct racial profiling – potentially singling out Muslim- and Arab-Americans – and to open preliminary terrorism investigations against targets simply on the basis of patterns established through data mining public records and other information.

The agency would be allowed to profile targets based on their race and activities, such as travel to the Middle East or any other part of the world associated with terrorism. But race would be only one factor in the decision to open an investigation.

The changes would allow FBI agents to ask open-ended questions about activities of Muslim- or Arab-Americans, or investigate them if their jobs and backgrounds match trends that analysts deem suspect. FBI agents would not be allowed to eavesdrop on phone calls or dig deeply into personal data — such as the content of phone or e-mail records or bank statements — until a full investigation was opened. The guidelines focus on the FBI's domestic operations and run about 40 pages long, several officials said. They do not specifically spell out what traits the FBI should use in building profiles.

The DoJ is revamping the guidelines to support the FBI's change in focus from fighting traditional crimes to gathering intelligence and countering domestic terrorism. The new guidelines would be put in place before the presidential administration changes next January.

Targeting a person based on race, of course, would seem to be a clear violation of civil rights. A DoJ official told the AP that the guidelines wouldn't really give the FBI any more authority than it already has to create "threat assessments" of individuals. A DoJ spokesman added that the guidelines cannot authorize any activity that is unconstitutional or prohibited by statute.

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