Efforts to protect us mustn’t eclipse freedom

During the recent House debate to extend the USA Patriot Act, Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., summed up the dilemma:

“How much freedom are we willing to give up to feel safe?”

The House voted to renew the act indefinitely, but put a 10-year limit on two of the most debated provisions – allowing federal agents to use roving wiretaps and to search library and medical records.

During the deliberations, nine Republicans broke ranks and voted with a united Democratic bloc in a failed attempt to make all 16 of the Patriot Act’s most sensitive provisions subject to an additional four-year sunset period.

The Republicans said their vote was an attempt to adhere to the limited government envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

Those concerns are echoed in the Senate’s bill, which also extends the act, but calls for a four-year review of the wiretap and library provisions. The Senate will vote on the bill in the fall, before the two measures are reconciled in a conference committee.

How much freedom are we willing to give up to feel safe?

The roving wiretap provision allows investigators to obtain warrants to intercept a suspect’s phone conversations or Internet traffic without limiting it to a specific phone or identifying the suspect.

The records provision authorizes federal officials to obtain “tangible items,” such as business, library and medical records.

Patriot Act advocates argue that such powers already exist in criminal investigations so they should be continued for terrorism investigations. The House-approved bill also requires that a judge approve the records search. An amendment requires the FBI director to personally approve any request for library or bookstore records.

Critics of the act ask if such powers already exist in criminal investigations, why do we need a separate law to deal with terrorism?

The Justice Department has reported that the powers of the act have been used to convict an Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who tried to purchase hand grenades to bomb abortion clinics, to trace a threat to burn down an Islamic Center in El Paso, Texas, to dismantle a terror cell in Portland, and to rescue a baby after its mother was murdered in Missouri.

The powers of the act were also used to conduct a secret search of the home Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim convert who was wrongly suspected of involvement in the March 2004 Madrid bombings, which killed more than 200 people. After discovering that Mayfield’s fingerprints didn’t match those of a set found at the attack site, the FBI released the lawyer, admitting officials made a mistake and rushed to judgement.

How can we feel safe and secure in our civil liberties when the government can presume us guilty until proven innocent?

Arguing for revisions of the Patriot Act in April, former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said: “Too many people think the Patriot Act doesn’t affect them, and that if it does, it doesn’t matter. It severs the very foundation of the Fourth Amendment to say that government can invade a person’s privacy and gather information against them without having a sound basis for suspecting that they’ve done something wrong.”

The protection of our rights must be equal to, or greater than, attempts to keep us safe. Congress should keep that in mind as it tries to reconcile the Patriot Act with the truths that we hold to be self-evident.

Talk to us

More in Opinion

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the House floor after being ousted as Speaker of the House at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Editorial: ‘This is the Republicans’ civil war,’ not Democrats’

Reps. Larsen, DelBene put responsibility on GOP to end its fight and agree to a budget deal.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, Oct. 4

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Why has Providence hosptial not improved nurse staffing?

I am writing as a concerned citizen and a supporter of labor… Continue reading

Willis Tucker Park’s staff should switch to vinegar to kill weeds

After reading the article about Snohomish County Parks Department using Roundup spray… Continue reading

Years of work with Johnson proved ability to serve as sheriff

In my career of over 40 years working in and with law… Continue reading

Comment: U.S. greatness at heart of why it must support Ukraine

The U.S. holds that mantle; as it did in World War II, it’s responsible for defending democracies.

Comment: Young activists taking climate crisis case to courts

Even if lawsuits fail, there activists win by raising awareness and laying the groundwork for future campaigns.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Tuesday, Oct. 3

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

3d rendering Stack of vote button badges.
Editorial: Bring Davis, Hoiby to Marysville School Board

Both women have deep ties to the community and demonstrate commitment to students and families.

FILE — In this Sept. 17, 2020 file photo, provided by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Chelbee Rosenkrance, of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, holds a male sockeye salmon at the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Eagle, Idaho. Wildlife officials said Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, that an emergency trap-and-truck operation of Idaho-bound endangered sockeye salmon, due to high water temperatures in the Snake and Salomon rivers, netted enough fish at the Granite Dam in eastern Washington, last month, to sustain an elaborate hatchery program. (Travis Brown/Idaho Department of Fish and Game via AP, File)
Editorial: Pledge to honor treaties can save Columbia’s salmon

The Biden administration commits to honoring tribal treaties and preserving the rivers’ benefits.

Patricia Gambis, right, talks with her 4-year-old twin children, Emma, left, and Etienne in their home, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Maplewood, N.J. Gambis' husband, an FBI agent, has been working without pay during the partial United States government shutdown, which has forced the couple to take financial decisions including laying off their babysitter. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Editorial: Shutdown hits kids, families at difficult moment

The shutdown risks food aid for low-income families as child poverty doubled last year and child care aid ends.

There’s no need to reduce carbon emissions; plants need CO2

National Geographic states that “Most life on Earth depends on photosynthesis.” Photosynthesis… Continue reading