WHOA UNTO YOU
There’s been a lot to inspire people in the wake of the post-September 11th tragedies. The way people have come together to donate millions for disaster relief. The way people are proud to display the flag again. And the way Americans will finally turn to their government and say, "Hold it. Enough’s enough."
There’s been a lot of worrying done by the professional worrying class about whether the marked increase in patriotic feelings among Americans will lead to a stifling of dissent, especially in the area of civil liberties. It seems, however that the good old tradition of calling "whoa" to galloping police powers is alive and well. And it’s good to know that some of the people saying it are themselves in law enforcement.
Recently, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a plan to interview as many as 5,000 men from Middle Eastern countries nationwide regarding possible links to terrorism. The criteria for interviews is apparently based on nothing more than the men’s nationality. Almost immediately, people started going "hold on just a minute here." Part of the problem was that the A.G. wasn’t volunteering to have the feds do it themselves; he was asking local law enforcement to do it.
Of course, the Feds weren’t offering to provide extra money or manpower. They did, however, kindly supply a handy questionnaire, which suggested that police check visas and passports (reasonable enough), but also suggested that they inquire as to the interviewee’s sources of income, a list of addresses of friends and relatives, and whether he knows "any persons who have sympathy for the September 11th hijackers and other terrorists."
Some of the more ludicrous suggestions involved asking if the interviewee had "access to weapons or to anthrax." Can you really imagine a real terrorist admitting this? This questionnaire must have been come up with from the same people who wrote the script for the people in airport security: "Did you pack your own bags? Did anyone else give you anything before you got here" We all know how effective those questions were in stopping terrorist hijackings. Asking "You know where any secret caches of AK-47s are? Do you have any anthrax lying around?" isn’t likely to be much more effective.
Some of the loudest protests came from the ranks of our own men in blue. The police chief of Portland Oregon flatly refused at first, at least until some of the more Constitutionally dubious questions were trimmed. Oregon law, it seems, provides that the police can’t just gather intelligence willy-nilly "unless the information relates to criminal activity and there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct." An eminently reasonable state, Oregon, although one wonders why such a common sense criterion for police action needs to be written into a law in the first place. At least one wonders that until something like this comes along.
Others, perhaps emboldened by the example of Portland’s top cop, spoke up with their misgivings. The District Attorney in Gulfport, Mississippi said he had some "legal, philosophical, and financial’ questions that needed to be asked before he’d give the go-ahead.
The cops in Michigan (which has one of the largest Arab populations in the U.S.) came up with a novel solution. Rather than send already overworked beat officers and detectives out to knock on doors, law enforcement officials are going to send letters "inviting" people on the list to come in for a little chat about their friends’ political beliefs and whether they have training in the care and use of automatic weapons. "We have no reason to believe that you are, in any way, associated with terrorist activities," the letter reassures people in large, friendly bold-faced type. The letter also promises to try to work with people’s schedules. There was no word as to whether punch and cookies would be offered, but it couldn’t hurt. After all, some of these people come from places where an interview with the police can result in broken bones and worse.
Look, we’re all more than a little shaken up over recent events. And checking up on whether or not foreign nationals in this country are walking around on expired visas is something that should have been done a long time ago, terrorism or no terrorism. But hauling people in because of where they’re from and asking them about wacko political beliefs of their family and friends is...well, its downright un-American. Just ask the cops.
Dusty Rhoades lives in Carthage, practices law in Aberdeen, and, for the record, has no anthrax in his possession, nor, thank goodness, does he have access to an AK-47.
OUR GRACIOUS HOST (BOOKS-N-BYTES)
COPYRIGHT 2001 BY JERRY D. RHOADES, JR.