Letter: Examples of rights being compromised

Monday, June 12, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

In response to Ken Lucas' request in his June 6 letter that "someone, anyone" provide specific evidence of lost constitutional rights under the present administration, I would like to give two examples.

Case in point: Former Attorney General John Ashcroft's blatant disregard of the Fourth Amendment and the due process clause in the Padilla matter. Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in the United States and hustled off to a military brig, where he was sequestered.

Case in point: Ashcroft's hounding of two young people who planned to protest at the last Republican convention. I'm not a lawyer, but over the years I've heard the expression "official oppression." Certainly it was an attempt to stifle the constitutional right of free speech. Next time it could be you ... or me.

When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales replaced Ashcroft, he assured everyone that he would not apply his defense of the Guantanamo prison to domestic law. Only a few weeks after taking office, he was sneaking around to select members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to get authorization for "administrative subpoenas" instead of going to the full Judiciary Committee, the appropriate venue.

Rolf Goeth, Las Vegas

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