shooterx10
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Would you believe this came from a California newspaper?
Opinion - Tuesday, August 5, 2003
Challenging Patriot Act is not unpatriotic
EDITORIALS
Visalia City Council members were remarkably open-minded in their willingness to consider a resolution opposing provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
Although we don't expect council members to refute the Patriot Act, we appreciate their taking the time to discuss it and not dismiss it out of hand.
At the very least, examining the Patriot Act raises elements of discourse and dissent that are not only healthy to a democracy, but sadly missing in current times.
Congress passed the USA Patriot Act with almost no debate on Oct. 25, 2001, in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The wide-ranging law gave the government broad latitude in using surveillance to counter terrorism. It also allowed the government to detain noncitizens without providing them their constitutional rights and to keep some previously public documents secret.
In the aftermath of the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, few challenged the government's insistence that it needed these tools to suppress terrorists. Over time, though, groups and individuals across the political spectrum have condemned the Patriot Act for abridging constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, including the rights to privacy and due process and protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Others simply don't trust the government to have access to confidential, personal information.
About 250 cities and counties in the United States have passed resolutions objecting to the Patriot Act, from as different places as Burlington, Vt. to West Hollywood. Some of them condemn all or parts of the Patriot Act. Some pledge that their jurisdictions will not enforce specific provisions.
A group of people appealed to the Visalia City Council at its meeting of July 21 to adopt a resolution that would oppose the Patriot Act and direct city agencies such as the police department not to enforce its provisions.
City Council members didn't embrace the resolution, but they did say they wanted to check with the police department first. Councilman Bob Link and Mayor Jesus Gamboa said they would consider a compromise and voted to table the resolution.
We commend the council for keeping the issue alive. Some provisions of the Patriot Act do compromise individual rights and freedoms. They are especially threatening to noncitizens, many of whom already have reasons to fear authority.
We assert that it is sometimes the obligation of American citizens to question authority. That can also apply to the bodies that represent citizens.
The greatest value in discussing the Patriot Act, however, is the exercise itself: As Americans, we should be scrutinizing our laws and subjecting them to the defining light of our principles. That is how changes have come about that guaranteed rights to women, minorities, workers, children, immigrants and others.
Dissent and discussion are not only guaranteed by our freedoms, they strengthen and nurture them. Failing to take the time to raise that dissent is the beginning of the loss of those freedoms. Dissent can also be the act of a patriot. In this country, it has been from the beginning.
Here is the link.
Opinion - Tuesday, August 5, 2003
Challenging Patriot Act is not unpatriotic
EDITORIALS
Visalia City Council members were remarkably open-minded in their willingness to consider a resolution opposing provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
Although we don't expect council members to refute the Patriot Act, we appreciate their taking the time to discuss it and not dismiss it out of hand.
At the very least, examining the Patriot Act raises elements of discourse and dissent that are not only healthy to a democracy, but sadly missing in current times.
Congress passed the USA Patriot Act with almost no debate on Oct. 25, 2001, in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The wide-ranging law gave the government broad latitude in using surveillance to counter terrorism. It also allowed the government to detain noncitizens without providing them their constitutional rights and to keep some previously public documents secret.
In the aftermath of the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, few challenged the government's insistence that it needed these tools to suppress terrorists. Over time, though, groups and individuals across the political spectrum have condemned the Patriot Act for abridging constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, including the rights to privacy and due process and protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Others simply don't trust the government to have access to confidential, personal information.
About 250 cities and counties in the United States have passed resolutions objecting to the Patriot Act, from as different places as Burlington, Vt. to West Hollywood. Some of them condemn all or parts of the Patriot Act. Some pledge that their jurisdictions will not enforce specific provisions.
A group of people appealed to the Visalia City Council at its meeting of July 21 to adopt a resolution that would oppose the Patriot Act and direct city agencies such as the police department not to enforce its provisions.
City Council members didn't embrace the resolution, but they did say they wanted to check with the police department first. Councilman Bob Link and Mayor Jesus Gamboa said they would consider a compromise and voted to table the resolution.
We commend the council for keeping the issue alive. Some provisions of the Patriot Act do compromise individual rights and freedoms. They are especially threatening to noncitizens, many of whom already have reasons to fear authority.
We assert that it is sometimes the obligation of American citizens to question authority. That can also apply to the bodies that represent citizens.
The greatest value in discussing the Patriot Act, however, is the exercise itself: As Americans, we should be scrutinizing our laws and subjecting them to the defining light of our principles. That is how changes have come about that guaranteed rights to women, minorities, workers, children, immigrants and others.
Dissent and discussion are not only guaranteed by our freedoms, they strengthen and nurture them. Failing to take the time to raise that dissent is the beginning of the loss of those freedoms. Dissent can also be the act of a patriot. In this country, it has been from the beginning.
Here is the link.
