alan
Member
Panel Recommends Civil Liberties Review Board
"A federal commission on terrorism recommended on Monday that the White House establish an independent bipartisan panel to review whether new laws and regulations proposed by the government might infringe on civil liberties," The New York Times reports. In "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Preserving Our Liberties While Fighting Terrorism," Timothy Lynch, director of Cato's Project on Criminal Justice, writes: "The president of the United States wields enormous power, but it is sheer folly for anyone to think that he can stop terrorists from attacking the American homeland. Since intelligence and defense experts fully expect more atrocities in the foreseeable future, it is clear that Americans have a stark choice: We can either retain our freedom or we can throw it away in an attempt to make ourselves safe."
Supreme Court OKs Maryland Drug Arrests
"The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Baltimore County police acted properly four years ago when they arrested all three occupants of a car after the officers discovered drugs and cash inside and everyone denied owning them," The Washington Post reports. "By a vote of 9 to 0, the court said that such an arrest was consistent with the constitutional requirement that arrests be based on 'probable cause,' because under the circumstances it was reasonable to assume that one, some or all of the people in the car were involved in illegal activity." In "The Drug War on the Constitution," Steven Duke, Yale University professor of law, calls the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution "a casualty of the drug war." He argues that "the drug war cannot succeed in ending the consumption of illicit substances but if the unwinnable war continues, it can deprive us all of precious liberties. It has already done so."
"A federal commission on terrorism recommended on Monday that the White House establish an independent bipartisan panel to review whether new laws and regulations proposed by the government might infringe on civil liberties," The New York Times reports. In "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Preserving Our Liberties While Fighting Terrorism," Timothy Lynch, director of Cato's Project on Criminal Justice, writes: "The president of the United States wields enormous power, but it is sheer folly for anyone to think that he can stop terrorists from attacking the American homeland. Since intelligence and defense experts fully expect more atrocities in the foreseeable future, it is clear that Americans have a stark choice: We can either retain our freedom or we can throw it away in an attempt to make ourselves safe."
Supreme Court OKs Maryland Drug Arrests
"The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Baltimore County police acted properly four years ago when they arrested all three occupants of a car after the officers discovered drugs and cash inside and everyone denied owning them," The Washington Post reports. "By a vote of 9 to 0, the court said that such an arrest was consistent with the constitutional requirement that arrests be based on 'probable cause,' because under the circumstances it was reasonable to assume that one, some or all of the people in the car were involved in illegal activity." In "The Drug War on the Constitution," Steven Duke, Yale University professor of law, calls the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution "a casualty of the drug war." He argues that "the drug war cannot succeed in ending the consumption of illicit substances but if the unwinnable war continues, it can deprive us all of precious liberties. It has already done so."
