News Flash

Civil Liberties Being Whittled Away

August 22, 2003

Yet another threat to our civil liberties has reared its head in Congress. Coupled with previous attacks on constitutional protections in the war on terror, the Bush administration has set a disturbingly consistent pattern of whittling away constitutionally protected rights and liberties.

A draft of the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003, dubbed the VICTORY Act, was recently leaked to the media. Although the draft has not yet been introduced in Congress, it contains numerous provisions that have generated attention because they expand the government’ s control, including increased wiretapping powers and easier access to the financial records of suspected criminals.

Though other government policies have attracted controversy, the PATRIOT Act is the best known. The PATRIOT Act allows surveillance orders based in part on government obtained records of websites you visited and books checked out of public libraries. To facilitate this process it authorizes governmental investigators to force Internet service providers, libraries, and others to provide patron records on request.

Separate from that much maligned bill is the alleged maltreatment of so-called “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo Bay, racial and religious profiling, undisclosed detentions, and a spike in deportations of Muslim men.

Due process, access to counsel, fair trials--bedrocks of American civil society--are being trampled upon. Americans must not let this continue. To make matters worse, Congress now proposes expanding the government’s already amplified power to circumvent normal investigative procedures and practices. When taken together, these developments paint a very disconcerting portrait.

Press Room