Letter: Anti-terrorism law threatens our freedom

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 3:53 a.m.

A recent poll shows that 60 percent of Americans are willing to suspend civil liberties in the wake of Sept. 11. That means 40 percent are against it. As a member of the minority, I'd like to point out that we are probably in less peril today than we were when the Constitution was written. The freedom-for-security sacrifice that the majority is willing to make is based on the naive assumption that government will do the right thing.

Before Sept. 11, we feared crime. So we passed the three-strikes law and Megan's Law, even though these "bad guy" laws defy the Constitution and make our judicial system look like something out of a Victor Hugo novel. Now we fear terrorists, so we have passed the USA Patriot Act, which not only makes us seem like Nazis, but the law also may define protesters as "terrorists."

History has demonstrated that if a law can be abused, it will be. Second, denial of constitutional rights applies not only to "bad guys," but it also sets a precedent by which we all may be judged. Third, there is a naive belief that the Supreme Court will save us from our foolish laws. The high court has shown that it often interprets the Constitution according to its political bent. The only way to maintain our freedom is for the citizens to protest unconstitutional laws as if they threaten each of us, because they do.

JERRY BITTS