It was a mixed day for folks like me who value constitutional rights. What’s that? Don’t know what the Constitution is? Ah, you must be new around here.
See, the Constitution spells out what rights belong to government and what belong to the people. Lately, though, that beautiful document – the one on which stands our legal foundation as a country – has been ignored in the face of alleged “terra” threats. Nothing raises my hackles more.
I was pleased to see a controversial part of the Patriot Act was vacated today. A U.S. District Court judge ruled that a gag order be lifted against a library group which was directed by the FBI to provide library records for an investigation. Judge Janet C. Hall agreed that by not being able to identify the library group publicly – which the Patriot Act prohibits – the library group was unable to participate fully in the debate of Patriot Act abuses, violating its rights to free speech.
This knocks a big hole in one of the worst abuses of power the Patriot Act provides. Reading books is not a crime, nor should it be considered one. What I read and think is nobody’s business (well, outside of my blog, naturally).
While I was still gloating over this ruling, I read how the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the government in the case of Jose Padilla, the “enemy combatant” who happens to be an American citizen. Their ruling lets the government ignore the constitutional rights of anyone it arbitrarily deems an “enemy combatant.” So much for unreasonable search and seizure and due process.
Now I don’t think for a minute that Padilla is a Boy Scout. In fact, I think he probably is a “terrist.” So why not put the bastard on trial? One reason my conspiracy-minded self can’t ignore is Padilla is the spitting image of “John Doe 2,” of the Okalahoma City Bombing case. Does Padilla know something about the bombing that the government doesn’t want to come out at trial?
The third incident is the police seizing guns of those New Orleans residents who refuse to leave. The excuse given, predictably, is “it’s for your own good.”
“Individuals are at risk of dying,” said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of the New Orleans police. “There’s nothing more important than the preservation of human life.”
If I owned guns and was in that situation, the cops would have a tough sell. The cops (those that haven’t abandonded the force, that is) have proven they can provide no protection against the crackheads still loose in the city. New Orleans cops were not known for being honest even before all hell broke loose. I know the authorities are trying to clean up the city, but I’m not aware of any authority granted to Ray Nagin that trumps the Second Amendment. His declaration of “martial law” isn’t even authorized by the Louisiana constitution.
When it comes to your rights, give the government an inch and it takes a mile. Whatever happened to “less government?”