Name Name Essay #3 The Price We Pay As times change, our governmental system also needs to be updated, but certain steps first need to be taken in order to ensure that along the way citizens do not lose their rights first established in 1776 in the Declaration of the Independence. The Constitution, written in 1787, further establishes the rights of US residents. Thomas Jefferson and the founders of our nation had a vision when they wrote our government’s most fundamental documents; their dream was that we would live in a society run by its own people who would be protected by “certain unalienable rights” (Jefferson). Two hundred and twenty five years later our President, who was elected by the people, has amended our rights without proper administration. Our government has taken advantage of the recent terrorist attacks and waged new institutions that deny our rights and open the door to unconstitutional acts that tear down our government documents, which are the keystone of our democracy. Since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, our government has hastily detained suspects and made decisions regarding our rights. Just because George W. Bush is the President does not mean he has the right commit murder just as he should not have the right to illegally imprison a person, completely ignoring laws that are deeply rooted in American democracy. The Presidents and their cabinet were elected by the people and are still citizens of the US and still need to abide by the laws established by our Government. Although they are part of our governmental system, because we entrusted them with that power, they still need to go through a series of checks and balances in order to amend our laws. After the 9/11 terrorist attack the government detained thousands of US residents and immigrants illegally and denied them their Constitutional rights. They were held without knowledge of the reason for detainment and many did not see a judge until weeks after their arrest. These prisoners of war (POW) were not given the right to an attorney an often held on minor charges that would not hold up in a ‘normal’ court of law. Once the POW finally were released their personal belongings were not returned, even though no warrant was present to even confiscate their belongings in the first place. Our government has over stepped their boundaries in the past two years and disturbingly easily stripped America of its rights. During a time of national threat we are more willing to give up our constitutional rights in exchange for pseudo-security. A surprising 25% of those surveyed by CNN-USA thought the government had not gone far enough in restricting our civil liberties. The government senses our fears and tries to use it to their advantage, the Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant said, “If the government’s heightened interest in self defense justifies the use of deadly force, then it certainly would also justify warrantless searches” (10). The PATRIOT Act allows just that to occur, FBI agents may conduct searches without warrants if they have terrorist concerns about ethnic groups. The fourth amendment of the Constitution requires a warrant to be present at the time of search to protect against unreasonable searches; this right has now been revoked under broad circumstances. The PATRIOT act also allows a loophole concerning ethnicity, the Due Process Clause protects us against racial, ethnic and religious bias, but as stated earlier, US residents were seized on the basis of their ethnicity. The PATRIOT Act, which was established on October 26th 2001, violates the fourth, fifth and sixth amendments. The acronym PATRIOT stands for Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, in order to protect US citizens the PATRIOT act restricts our rights, which are restrictions on the government and protections from abuse. Other actions have also been taken by the government since 9/11, which limits our rights. ‘The Order’ (President’s Executive Order), a military court of law, is now able to take away our Fifth Amendment right, which protects us from self-incrimination. This is a dangerous weapon; the government now has the capability to use psychological and physical means of extracting a false testimony. Finally the most dangerous measure taken is the Interim Regulations. Agents are now allowed to monitor conversations between attorneys and their clients without either party aware with simply a court order. No longer can we talk openly with our attorneys and have complete trust in our legal system, because our 6th amendment right to legal representation is now irrelevant. If we continue to let our government strip us of our rights we will no longer have the same free will and will lose our democratic values. Within only a few months after the terrorist attacks new institutions were set into action, which allowed our constitutional rights to be at risk. Most of the population has not yet experienced first hand the theft of our rights; therefore they do not realize the danger of our government’s actions. Protection from suspected terrorists is not worth the price of revoking our rights. Only 11% of those surveyed by CNN-USA agreed that we have given up too many of our rights. The ignorance of our society is clear, as we continue to allow our government to slowly take away some of our most fundamental rights, we open a floodgate, in which we no longer control our government or our protections (rights). Works Cited Fogel, Jeff. (September, 2003). The State of Civil Liberties Two Years Later. Retrieved October 25, 2003, from the Center For Constitutional Rights. Lane, Charles. Restricting Civil Liberties vs. Fighting Against Terror. Pittsburgh Post- Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA; September 10, 2002. pg. A.9 Moser, J. and A. Watters. Creating America Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ; 2002. The State of Civil Liberties: One Year Later. Retrieved October 14, 2003, from the Center For Constitutional Rights. www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/docs/civil_liberties.pdf