Hijacked Civil Liberties: The Legacy of 9/11

In commemorating eight years since the terrorist attacks of September 11th we tend to reflect on the sacrifices of ordinary citizens, on the manner in which our lives changed permanently after the attacks. We pay homage to the brave first responders who gave everything in efforts to save innocent civilians. In addition to the thousands of lives lost, hours spent in airport security lines, and color-coded threat levels American citizens lost significant rights and constitutional guarantees– protections no less hijacked than the planes that hit the towers. This December we have the opportunity to take those rights back.

At the end of the year a number of provisions of the Patriot Act will be up for renewal, giving Congress the opportunity to rectify the unprecedented constitutional abuses enacted by the previous administration. Under the Patriot Act, and under the guise of protecting the national security interests, the FBI now routinely conducts secret searches of citizens homes, eavesdrops on political organizations, and perhaps most disturbingly, conducts criminal investigations against citizens without probable cause by simply stating the investigation is for “intelligence purposes.”

Thankfully our system of checks and balances is beginning to right the course. A number of provisions, including indefinite detention without charge, have been held unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rebuked the uncontrolled sprawl of absolute immunity, finally placing a rational limit on the practice of the previous administration of self-absolution for crimes. By allowing John Ashcroft to be held personally accountable for stripping innocents of constitutionally guaranteed liberties the courts have finally signaled that the time for reckoning is now.

Yet, the abuses continue. The reality of indefinite detention, a concept positively repugnant to our constitutional democracy, has made its way into domestic cases totally unrelated to terrorism investigations. With the Obama administration arguing for many of the same powers the Bush administration civil libertarians are left scratching their heads, wondering just what is change, and if they can believe in it.

Which is why this December matters more than ever. Thanks to the relentless advocacy of the ACLU the depth and the extent of government abuses under the Patriot Act have come to light. Armed with this power Americans can once again demand accountability from their elected officials. Contact your representatives and urge they vote against reauthorizing the Patriot Act.

Read more: 9/11, civil rights, patriot act

photo courtesy of Sister72 via Flickr

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Ronald N.

10:58AM PDT on Sep 15, 2009

Well, so much for Right and Left. I think the whole shabang has gone to the Right and there's a little part of the Democratic Party that's slightly to the left of right. So politically, everything has shifted so much under Bush's administration that crumbs that the Democrats offer, look good. It's really of no consequence to the corporate entities that run our country.

Homeland Security is an extension of the Bush era. We have ICE, the NSA taps into our every bit of information through the internet, telephone or cell phone. The corporative interests back the hellraisers like Beck, Limbaugh, and Hannity. But they also disapprove if their product won't sell, but that's another story. If the neocons order prevails, we will have a pseudo-democracy and the American people will have this narrow perception of what the corporate powers want us to be. Third class with no middle class left. Total debt and the institutions prevail with a very small upper class and the total disintegration of a free and open press. Economic slavery and the institutions want success on their terms. The advantage will be with the corporations when we need independent and economic diversity to make America strong. Freedom is lost when powers have the ability to lie, manipulate, and alter the will of the people. So fight and, say what you will. 9/11 was either a elaborate premeditated plan by very powerful people or the powerful people took advantage of it for their own sullied interests!

send a green star

Rondal S.

9:49AM PDT on Sep 15, 2009

so you can't believe the power mongers in Washington would attack it's own people, read the operation Northwood Project document recently released under the freedom of information act and if you are not blind or ignorant it shows just how degenerate the neo-cons are this document more than anything else out there makes you understand why JFK was murdered

Kimberly J.

5:17PM PDT on Sep 14, 2009

The problem is that we, the American People, willingly let the President take away our Constitutionally guaranteed rights. When he said that the Patriot Act would keep us safe from more terrorist attacks, we said that was a good thing. These are some quotes from Thomas Jefferson on the subject.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

And, finally, this quote from Benjamin Franklin.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

9:23AM PDT on Sep 14, 2009

yes Olivier and even more disturbing we find out here recently that Bin laden was on the CIA payroll at the time of the attacks and not one neo-con is disturbed by this fact

Olivier B.

7:29AM PDT on Sep 14, 2009

Talking about 9/11, I would like to get answers to these questions: how could a Boeing 757 hitting the Pentagon make a hole of at most 8 meters wide while the plane is 60 meters wide, plus the fact that the two 6-tons engines have left no impact at all on the building? Why were all the security videos confiscated by the FBI? Why was the WTC-7 building pulled down, obviously using controlled demolition (Mr. Silverstein confrmed this) while experts need days to prepare such a job? Why did the THREE buildings fall down at free-fall speed? This can be measured on videos. Why didn't we see any fighter intercepting the planes while we know that they must be ready 24h a day? Yes, some Arabs might have been dancing to celebrate the event, this does not mean that they were guilty! Go to FBI site (fbi.gov) and check Usama Bin Laden profile. He is NOT EVEN ACCUSED of 9/11 attacks! Surprising... here is what can be read on the FBI site: "Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya." Well, strange isn't it?

9:45AM PDT on Sep 13, 2009

How crazy!! Cheney behind 9/11!! Since people do not remember the celebrations all over the Muslim world after the towers , pentagon and the PA flight were hijacked , ok lets go over some things! Do you remember the celebrations for the ''magnificent 19'' that were held by Islamics in the UK?? No? Oh please! HOW ABOUT THE DANCING IN THE STREETS IN GAZA , BY THE MUSLIMS? NO?Again?The celebrations in NJ , by the islamic community? Are you kidding me? How we forget! There were ''celebrations'' all over the globe after innocent lives were taken on that day! I am not sure where this man gets his news, but I maybe Alex Jones, and it is an INSULT to this USA born USA citizen to say any one that was not behind the attacks - was actually someone else!!!

Laurel W.

5:07PM PDT on Sep 12, 2009

In Britain, people are hassled and arrested by the police when they exercise their *legal right* to peaceful protest; police deal with demonstrations by 'kettling' them. Detention for terrorist suspects was extended to 28 days *without charge*. Also, the spectre of Identity Cards has been raised again, along with the scandalous quantities of money spent to launch them; this would never work, it would just create a whole new criminal black market in making fake ones. There has been a whole raft of new restrictions on civil liberties since 9/11 - and since we have suffered terrorist attacks of our own. And in Guantanamo Bay, where detainees are treated in inhuman ways, how many of those prisoners turned out to be innocent?

The threat of terrorism has been used, by Government, as an excuse to impose more and more restrictions on our civil liberties, and erode more and more of our rights. Yes, the terrorists have won a victory, through our own governments. They have imposed on us a climate of fear and oppression, amplified by media hysteria, and given our elected governments excuses to crack down on us. Yes, terrorist attacks are horrific and barbaric, but how many of us are likely to be affected by them? More likely, we will be affected by the laws our governments have made to control us all, using them as an excuse.

9:26AM PDT on Sep 12, 2009

yea Tim Ihave been askingmyself that since 911 they scream about the rights we are allegedly losing but say nothing about the rights and freedoms already lost

Timoth V.

9:11PM PDT on Sep 11, 2009

is this a joke? i mean the right wing republicans have stripped america of freedoms and liberty and now are screeming about rights and freedoms....am i confused......why are not Bush and Cheney in prison?
is Obama just another in a series of liars?...i mean politicians....don't want to give liars a bad name.

Christoph W.

2:34PM PDT on Sep 11, 2009

If a government has the power to abolish civil rights, it also has the power to destroy natural rights. An individual denied equality (a civil right) finds very little liberty (a natural right). And people without liberty find little enjoyment in equality.