USA Post 9/11: Are individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the laws and the US Constitution ?
Anthony D. Romero
The Star Spangled Banner, the American national anthem has each verse ending,
" O'er the land of the free, and home of the brave."It is sung at every major occasion in the land. For most part of American history, it is true to say it had been the "land of the free, and home of the brave".
But that appeared to have been lost with September 11, 2001. The events of 9/11 have led many to believe that the US Administration in its over reaction and high handedness had turned, rightly or wrongly, the great land of freedom and democracy into " the land of the fear and home of the scared ".
The Bush Administration's response to 9/11, not only on foreign policy, but its domestic policies to "protect" its citizens, have become a cause of major concern of many, especially by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ACLU's stipulated mandate is
"to defend and preserve the individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of the United States."In May 2003, ACLU published a report " FREEDOM UNDER FIRE: Dissent in Post-9/11 America" . The report recounts instances of over-reaction by US authorities, creating a climate of fear and fright , and fringing on the individual rights and freedom of ordinary US citizens.
The Executive Director of ACLU, Anthony D. Romero, in the forward to the report puts it:
" THERE IS A PALL OVER OUR COUNTRY.
In separate but related attempts to squelch dissent, the government has attacked the patriotism of its critics, police have barricaded and jailed protesters, and the New York Stock Exchange has revoked the press credentials of the most widely watched television network in the Arab world. .... Government-sanctioned intolerance has even trickled into our private lives.
Compounding the offense is the silence from many lawmakers. There is palpable fear even in the halls of Congress of expressing an unpopular view. Why should this disturb us? Because democracy is not a quiet business....
(There is) a shadow across America..... (and) the American Library Association says the FBI is treading on the rights it is supposed to uphold."
In the aftermath of 9/11, the Attorney-General John Aschcroft said concerns of critics of US Government are "phantoms of lost liberty". Ari Fleischer , the White press secretary, warned Americans to “watch what they say.”
Even the US media, of the likes of conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel who had suggested that war protesters should be prosecuted as “enemies of the state.”
Hundreds of ordinary US citizens got arrested for exercising their constitutionally protected freedoms, and some lost their jobs or were suspended from school.
The US Government has a history of suppressing dissent.
The current Bush Administration's handling of dissent after 9/11 include:
- Police beating and macing protesters in Missouri,
- Authorities spied on law-abiding activists in Colorado
- Police fired on demonstrators in California,
- Campus police have helped FBI agents to spy on professors and students in Massachusetts.
- The Justice Department under Ashcroft:
- rushed through Congress anti-terrorism statutes
- asserted the right to seize protesters’ assets and deport immigrants under the antiterrorism statutes
- debated whether to revoke U.S. citizenship in some cases.
- compiled political dossiers on protesters arrested in New York, which were exposed by the ACLU.
- rushed through Congress anti-terrorism statutes
- New York: In March 2003, more than 200,000 protesters marched down Broadway with a permit obtained by the NYCLU. But police arrested hundreds of protestors, interrogated them about their political affiliations and prior activities, methodically entering the information into a database. Not only was that information constitutionally protected, police had used “the coercive environment of an arrest” to obtain it illegally, “outside the presence of counsel.” Embarrassed, the New York Police Department halted the program abruptly. Earlier in February, the city had denied permission to protest organizers to hold a large antiwar march.
Guilderland, New York: Stephen Downs, a 61-year-old lawyer, bought a T-shirt promoting “Peace” at a mall but was arrested for refusing to leave or remove a shirt he’d bought there. Downs was led away in handcuffs on a trespassing charge. “Give Peace a Chance,” his shirt said on one side, and “Peace On Earth” on the other. Downs was accompanied by his 31-year-old son Roger, who also wore an anti-war T-shirt, but was allowed to leave after removing it. The mall operators later asked the Guilderland Police Department to drop the trespassing charge but the news coverage made Downs a local hero.
Grinell, Iowa: In December 2002 , two police officers and a county attorney threatened to arrest a pair of Grinnell College students for hanging a U.S. flag upside-down from their dormitory window. After the lawsuit was filed by ACLU in U.S. District Court in Des Moines, authorities agreed that hanging it upside-down was protected under the First Amendment.
A.J. Brown and the offending poster
Durham, N. Carolina: Oct. 27, 2001, agents from the Raleigh, N.C. office of the U.S. Secret Service and an investigator from the Durham Police Department confronted A.J. Brown, a freshman at Durham Technical College for hanging an “anti-American” wall poster. which showed George W. Bush holding a rope against a backdrop of lynch victims, with the text, “We hang on your word.” The poster had a statement that said Texas executed 152 people while Bush was governor. Brown was quizzed on whether she had any information about Afghanistan and on the Taliban. And she was asked to fill out a form providing her full name, race, phone number and other identifying information.
College Park, Maryland: Students at the University of Maryland at College Park had restrictions on outdoor public speaking and leafleting on the university’s 1,500-acre campus. Public speaking is currently limited to the Nymburu Amphitheater stage and prohibited elsewhere. The rules apply to all “speech directed to a general audience or non-specific persons” and limit the distribution of literature “to designated sidewalk space outside the Stamp Student Union.”
Baltimore, Maryland: On April 4, eight members of the Women in Black were asked to have permits to stand silently at the southeast corner of Pratt and Light streets in the Inner Harbor, holding signs, as they had done on a weekly basis since December. The city also required long advance-notice requirement – up to eight weeks. “The Inner Harbor is the quintessential public square,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Rajeev Goyle. “It is the most visible spot in downtown Baltimore and the natural place for people exercising their free speech rights to gather and voice their ideas.” A suit against the city by ACLU resulted in a preliminary victory for Women in Black - Baltimore City Solicitor Thurman W. Zollicoffer, Jr. agreed to suspend for 180 days the permit requirement for all demonstrations with 25 or fewer people, making it possible for Women in Black to stand in their customary spot without fear of arrest.
Westminster, Maryland: Members of Women in Black and a Girl Scout had been holding silent peace vigils on the sidewalk in front of the Westminster city library. They were threatened with arrest under ordinance requiring a permit for any speech or expressive conduct on public property, no matter how small, plus up to 60 days advance notice, at the discretion of the Common Council of the City of Westminster, without any meaningful standards. When the ACLU intervened, the Common Council voted April 21, 2003 to suspend enforcement of the ordinance for groups of less than 25, reduce the advance-notice requirement to two days, include a 24-hour exigency provision, and vest discretion in the city clerk.
Seattle, Washington: On Feb. 15, the day of a major downtown protest march, a woman waiting to board the Monorail was asked to lower a protest sign she was holding over her shoulder; when she refused, she was asked to leave the building. On March 6, a person trying to purchase a meal at the food court was ordered by a security officer to remove a small, black-and-white 1.5-inch “No War” pin or exit the building. According to ACLU, these restrictions were violations of Seattle’s Open Housing and Public Accommodations Ordinance, which bars denying any person “directly or indirectly…the full enjoyment of …any place of public accommodation because of the person’s political ideology. ”
West Palm Beach, Florida: City officials had blocked a nude anti-war demonstration in a state park. T.A. Wayner, a Fort Pierce naturist who planned to choreograph the creation of a peace symbol on Singer Island using nude bodies, and videographer George T. Simon, who planned to observe. ACLU sued on their behalf and Judge Donald M. Middlebrook agreed, calling it “well within the ambit of the First Amendment.” Tampa, Florida: Two grandmothers and a gay activist were arrested during a 2001 rally for President Bush and his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Jan Lentz was forcibly hauled away in handcuffs with her two companions for refusing to ditch her “Investigate Florida Votergate” sign demanding an investigation of Florida’s 2000 election fiasco. They were accused of trespassing even though all three had tickets to the rally. “Lose the sign and you can stay,” they were told, but they wanted Bush to see their message. The charges against the three were eventually dropped, but the pending lawsuit seeks damages and other sanctions against the city.
Fort Myers, Florida: Some librarians at Gulf Coast Community College were asked by their bosses NOT to wear “I’m proud to be an American” stickers because they might offend foreign students.
St. Louis, Missouri: On March 30, eight youthful protesters carrying anti-war signs were arrested and dozens injured in a confrontation with police following a large peace rally in the city’s Forest Park. Some 60 youths, who had attempted to march out of the rally together, said police blocked off the street, ordered them onto the sidewalk and pushed one participant off her bicycle. Some were thrown to the ground or against squad cars, and one suffered a concussion and had to go to the hospital. Some said they were handcuffed, and then maced after the cuffs were on, and that the arresting officers hurled epithets – “traitor,” “anti-American,” “unpatriotic” – at them for opposing the war.
Dearborn, Michigan: On Feb. 17, 2003, Bretton Barber, 16, was sent home from school after refusing to turn his T-shirt (with an image of President Bush and the words “International Terrorist”) inside-out.
San Luis Colorado: Store owner John Fleming displayed the American flag upside-down in his store window. Fleming said he believed the war in Iraq was a sign that our country was in distress, but Alamosa’s Chief of Police said the display violated a Colorado statute – and threatened to charge Fleming with a crime unless he took it down. The threat of prosecution silenced Fleming, who did as he was told. But ACLU threatened a lawsuit to protect his right of expression if officials did not back down.
New Jersey City, New Jersey: In October 2001, a deli owner’s license to sell lottery tickets was suspended because he made favorable remarks about Osama bin Laden.
San Diego, California: In March 2003, Seth Goldberg packed two “No Iraq War” signs in his suitcase before boarding a flight in Seattle. He arrived in San Diego. Nestled among his personal belongings were a card from the Transportation Security Administration, notifying him that his bags had been opened and inspected at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport – and a handwritten admonishment: “Don’t appreciate your anti-American attitude!” After ACLU intervened, a TSA official wrote Goldberg on April 10 that the agency recognizes the right of individuals to freely express their political or personal views. “Rest assured that infringement on that right by TSA employees is not condoned nor will be tolerated,” wrote the TSA’s Robert Blunk. He said the message would be sent to all TSA employees at Sea-Tac and incorporated into their training.
Oakland, California: On April 7, 2003, police using rubber bullets, wooden pellets and tear gas opened fire at an anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland, April 7, 2003, injuring several demonstrators and longshoremen and sending at least one to the hospital.
Albuquerque, New Mexico: Police had used excessive force in breaking up a March 20, 2003 anti-war demonstration at the University of New Mexico. Seventeen protesters, arrested on charges ranging from public nuisance to refusing to obey a police officer, said they were tear-gassed or beaten with batons before being taken into custody.
Albuquerque, New Mexico: The Albuquerque Public Schools suspended without pay two teachers and a guidance counselor for displaying posters, artwork and other materials that expressed opinions about the war on Iraq. Rio Grande High School teacher Carmelita Royal was suspended for refusing to remove a “No War Against Iraq” sign she had placed behind the blinds in her classroom (facing outward) Another Albuquerque High School student counselor Ken Tabish, was suspended for posting in his office a speech by Senator Robert Byrd, anti-war articles, and flyers for peace rallies, after someone complained that if Rio Grande teachers couldn’t express anti-war sentiments, neither should he. And at Albuquerque’s Highland High School, teacher Alan Cooper was suspended for refusing to take down students’ posters that his principal, Ace Trujillo, termed “not sufficiently pro-war.”
Evansville, Indiana: On Feb. 6, 2002, John Blair, an environmentalist,was arrested for protesting Vice President Dick Cheney’s appearance at a fundraiser with a sign reading: “Cheney – 19th c. Energy Man.”. ACLU's intervention led to the charges against Blair dropped two weeks later but the lawsuit remains in force as the City of Evansville has refused to acknowledge that it had no right to ignore Blair’s constitutional rights.
Phoenix, Arizona: On Sept. 26, 2002, when President Bush attended a dinner, Eleanor Eisenberg went to the protest site as a legal observer – and was herself arrested. As the protesters were gathering, mounted police and officers in full riot gear charged into the crowd. She was across the street taking pictures of them beating a young man when she was arrested. Eisenberg spent nine hours in custody, most of it incommunicado. She was “bruised and shaken, sore from being in handcuffs for more than an hour with my hands behind my back in a police car. It was a horrible experience,” she said afterwards. The only charge against her, resisting arrest, was dropped four months later.
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