While the world has recoiled in fear from the threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a fear of a different kind has haunted people on American soil — the deterioration of civil liberties.
The Lane County Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union have spent the past several months raising a ruckus over the Justice Department’s draft legislation called the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, also known as “Patriot Act II.”
The Justice Department has not officially released the legislation, but “Patriot II” captured public attention after the Center for Public Integrity obtained a draft of the undisclosed legislation and provided a full text of the document on its Web site earlier this year.
The bill would expand the current anti-terrorism legislation known as the USA PATRIOT Act, and contains more than 500 provisions to endow the government with mightier muscles for curbing terrorism, or according to constitutional rights
advocates, crippling civil liberties.
“The new Ashcroft proposal threatens to fundamentally alter the constitutional protections that allow us to be both safe and free,” said Timothy H. Edgar, an ACLU legislative counsel. “If it becomes law, it will encourage police spying on political and religious activities, allow the government to wiretap without going to court and dramatically expand the death penalty under an overbroad definition
of terrorism.”
However, government officials have cautioned that citizens should not be alarmed by the draft legislation. After the Center for Public Integrity revealed “Patriot II” to the public, Barbara Comstock, director of public affairs for the Justice Department, released a statement affirming the Justice Department’s commitment to homeland security.
“During our internal deliberations, many ideas are considered, some are discarded and new ideas emerge in the process along with numerous discussion drafts,” she stated. “Department staff have not presented any final proposals to either the Attorney General or the White House. It would be premature to speculate on any future decisions, particularly ideas or proposals that are still being discussed at staff levels.”
But organizations critical of the legislation, such as the LCBORDC and the ACLU, are cautioning citizens of the threats on their personal liberties, warning that “Patriot II” endangers such constitutional guarantees as personal privacy and freedom of speech, association
and religion.
For example, under Section 501, Americans can be stripped of their citizenship for providing support to any group the government designates as a “terrorist organization.” The ACLU said it objected to this provision because under such a definition, domestic protest organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals could be targeted. Sections 301-306 contain language for establishing a DNA terrorist identification database, which the ACLU claims will “allow for the sampling and cataloguing of innocent Americans’ genetic information without court order and without consent.”
The Eugene Middle East Peace Group is sponsoring a forum entitled “Civil Liberties in a Time of Crisis,” at the First United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. on Thursday to address perceived threats to constitutional protections. The event will include personal stories, discussion, opportunities for action and a panel of speakers from the LCBORDC, the ACLU and the Network for Immigrant Justice.