IP: Rescuing the Constitution By Nat Hentoff

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001 13:33:33 -0500
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt () coil com>
>
> Source:
> Jewish World Review
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com
>
> Rescuing the Constitution
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff1.asp
>
> Dec. 17, 2001
>
> Nat Hentoff
>
> AT the start of both the civil rights and anti-Vietnam-war movements, a 
> majority of Americans did not support either campaign.  But, through 
> teach-ins and other educational projects -- from newspaper ads to marches 
> on Washington -- the direction of the nation was changed.
>
> The odds against similar organized national opposition to the Bush 
> administration's weakening of the Constitution, particularly the Bill of 
> Rights, are much longer than they were in the 1960s.  Not only do polls 
> show overwhelming public support for the diminishing of civil liberties; 
> but Congress -- except for a few vocal constitutionalists -- is not going 
> to vigorously exercise its oversight powers over John Ashcroft and the 
> Justice Department.
>
> As Democrat John Dingell, a longtime, influential member of the House, 
> told the Dec.  5 New York Times, "I hear a lot of members saying they're 
> concerned, but not many willing to say it publicly."
>
> There is insistent public opposition from civil libertarians, both on the 
> left and the right; but the attorney general's often unilateral, 
> scorched-earth approach to the Bill of Rights takes on new dimensions so 
> frequently that his critics have been able only so far to react. There 
> hasn't been time to organize pressure nationwide so that Congress will 
> awaken to the separation of powers that is at the core of our system of 
> governance.
>
> A new addition to John Ashcroft's war on both terrorism and our 
> Constitution is his plan -- under the expanded surveillance powers in the 
> USA Patriot Act -- to reintroduce a current version of COINTELPRO 
> (Counterintelligence Operation). From 1956 to 1971, the FBI not only 
> monitored religious and political groups purportedly linked to Communist 
> operations, but the bureau also infiltrated and disrupted these organizations.
>
> Among the FBI's targets were anti-war, civil rights and black nationalist 
> groups, along with various liberal organizations that opposed certain 
> government foreign policies.  The Communist Party itself was, of course, 
> included.  But, as a reporter throughout that period, I can attest that 
> many of the COINTELPRO probes were directed at entirely lawful groups and 
> individuals without any ties to Communism.
>
> Finally, in 1975, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities 
> (the Church Committee) began to hold hearings and otherwise investigate 
> COINTELPRO.  The committee concluded that this FBI operation was "a 
> sophisticated and vigilante program aimed squarely at preventing the 
> exercise of First Amendment rights of speech and association, on the 
> theory that preventing the growth of dangerous groups and the propagation 
> of dangerous ideas would protect the national security and deter violence."
>
> The Church Committee (named for Idaho Sen.  Frank Church, its chairman) 
> added: "The American people need to be reassured that never again will an 
> agency of the government be permitted to conduct a secret war against 
> those citizens it considers threats to the established order."
>
> But a Dec.  3 Wall Street Journal story headlined "Justice Department 
> Considers Stepping Up Monitoring of Religious, Political Groups" reported 
> that the FBI will, under this proposal, no longer be held to "Justice 
> Department regulations requiring agents to show probable cause that a 
> crime was afoot before spying on political or religious organizations." 
> Those regulations were put in place after the Church Committee exposed the 
> FBI's disgraced COINTELPRO record.
>
> On a Dec.  2 episode of ABC's "This Week," Attorney General John Ashcroft 
> not only did not deny the advent of a new COINTELPRO, but stoutly 
> maintained that he will pursue whatever has to be done in the war against 
> terrorism.  He doesn't need congressional approval for this assault on the 
> First and Fourth Amendments.
>
> During what passed for a congressional debate on Ashcroft's anti-terrorism 
> bill, the American Civil Liberties Union organized a Coalition in Defense 
> of Freedom in Time of National Crisis.  Opposing parts of that bill, which 
> became law, was the largest array of civil liberties organizations I have 
> ever seen -- from left to right and center.  Included were: The Center for 
> Constitutional Rights; the Free Congress Foundation; the American Friends 
> Service Committee; Gun Owners of America; the NAACP Board of Directors; 
> the Rutherford Institute; and Amnesty International USA.
>
> If enough of these groups -- and individuals also intent on rescuing 
> constitutional rights -- can move from reacting to organize a national 
> coalition, Congress can be moved to act before, as Republican Congressman 
> Bob Barr says, "This massive suspension of civil liberties ...
> will likely set precedents that will come back to haunt us terribly."
>
> JWR contributor Nat Hentoff is a First Amendment authority and author of 
> numerous books.  Send your comments to him by clicking on the 
> link.  [mailto:schmooze () jewishworldreview com]
>
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