Cornell Survey: Americans say some new federal powers infringe on civil liberties

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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Subject: Survey: Americans say some new federal powers infringe on civil
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Survey: Americans say some new federal powers infringe on civil liberties

By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

When the Patriot Act passed Congress weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks, federal law-enforcement officials received more power to eavesdrop
on telephone calls, secretly monitor e-mail communication and find out what
library-card holders have been reading. Now a majority of Americans are
claiming that these new government powers infringe upon civil liberties,
according to a national survey conducted in Cornell's Department of
Communication. 

More than 60 percent of Americans oppose tapping phone lines and wireless
phone connections as part of the war on terrorism, the survey found. Nearly
60 percent oppose monitoring e-mail, and the same percentage oppose
outlawing constitutionally protected actions, even if some consider these
actions "un-American."

    


Schuefele

    


"This clearly shows that Americans are more and more concerned about their
civil liberties in a post-Sept. 11 world," said Dietram Scheufele, Cornell
assistant professor of communication and principal investigator of the
study. "Recent federal policies, such as the Patriot Act or the Defense
Department's proposed Total Information Awareness program, increasingly
infringe upon rights and freedoms that people once took for granted, and
Americans are increasingly aware of the trade-off between civil liberties
and national security."

At the same time, however, a majority of Americans surveyed supported random
checks based on racial profiling of suspected terrorists (68 percent) and
the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists (about 57 percent).

About 54 percent of all Americans questioned agreed with the idea that the
government sometimes has to lie to the press about military operations. More
than 70 percent, however, felt that the media should not be prevented from
covering anti-war protests or the comments of individuals critical of the
government. "It seems that Americans understand the military's interest in
keeping certain information to itself and not make it publicly available.
That does not mean, however, that people support censorship, self-imposed by
the media or enforced by the government," said Scheufele.

People who define themselves as either Democrats or as Republicans differ
dramatically in their assessment of measures taken by the Bush
administration's war on terrorism, however. About 55 percent of Democrats
said they were opposed to the idea that the government sometimes has to lie
to the press about military actions, in contrast to about 64 percent of
Republicans who supported that idea.

Nearly two-thirds (63.8 percent) of Democrats surveyed said the government
should not have greater power in monitoring e-mail and other Internet
activities, but 52 percent of Republicans felt that greater government power
in those areas is a good idea. Almost 60 percent (59.9 percent) of Democrats
also were opposed to outlawing "un-American" actions, even if
constitutionally protected, whereas a slight majority of Republicans (52
percent) were willing to sacrifice constitutional protections for security.

The results are based on a national telephone survey of 787 adults, which
had a 55 percent response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5
percent. The fieldwork was conducted by Cornell's Computer-Assisted Survey
Team. 



January 16, 2003


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