Civil Liberties vs. National Security

Civil liberties v. national security is one of the most hotly contested issues in our country today. Ever since the attacks on the twin towers on 9/11, the federal government passed many laws to monitor and spy on U.S citizens and root out suspected traitors in the name of national security. Forty-five days after 9/11, after little debate on the Senate floor and universal approval, the Patriot Act was passed. The Patriot Act was a series of broad and loose laws to strengthen national security and prevent another act such as 9/11.

Many articles of the Patriot Act were and remain controversial due to the lax and sometimes extreme powers that are given to authority in the name of national security. A majority of the most controversial pieces of legislation that was introduced had an “expiration date” on them. [vox.com, Everyone’s heard of the Patriot Act. Here’s what it actually does, Dara Lind, 06/02/2015] Congress did not fully support them but less than 4 years later, they were renewed in a new set of legislation called the USA Freedom Act which gave increased power to certain acts and set several of these laws in stone but also dissolved the mass collection of private citizens online data.

[washingtonpost.com, USA Freedom Act: What’s in, what’s out, The Washington Post, 06/02/2015] Many of these laws limited several of our freedoms and liberties in the name of national security such as privacy and the Fourth Amendment at the cost of increased security and safety.

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Privacy and our civil liberties is a right guaranteed to all of us under the U.S Constitution, not a privilege from the federal government. Even before 9/11, our civil rights and constitutional rights have been attacked by the very same people that are supposed to be protecting it. The Patriot Act has given the U.S government unchecked power. Our freedoms are being violated without us even knowing. Warrantless wiretapping, torture and kidnappings, no-fly lists on U.S citizens, and government secrecy are just to name a few out of a list of hundreds of violations against the U.S Constitution. Our civil rights have been trampled on and taken advantage of and must be protected. Call them heroes or traitors, several Americans in positions of authority have exposed “big brother” of surveillance on Americans. The NSA has been collecting every single person’s phone records, text messages, and hacking popular search engines to view our search results. They have also been able to hack into computers on a mass scale using two programs called PRISM and TURBINE. The DIA has been engaging in illegal wiretaps on American citizens. The FBI has been spying on American citizens. [washingtonpost.com, Here’s everything we know about PRISM to date, Timothy Lee, 06/12/31] The illegal activities that have been exposed by whistleblowers are widespread, well documented and unconstitutional.

These violations aren’t just happening in the federal level, local police departments and law enforcement agencies across the country are engaging in similar types of behavior with approval from the Patriot Act that endanger civil liberties. Local law enforcement can now delay giving notice when conducting searches. Meaning they can enter and search any property while the person is away. [ACLU.org “Sneak & Peak” Warrants] Police are now using StingRay cell phone towers to trick private citizen’s phones to reveal their locations so law enforcement can apprehend the suspects. This is an explicit violation of the Fourth Amendment. [washingtonpost.com, Tom Jackson, “Police use of ‘StingRay’ cell phone tracker requires search warrant, appeals court rules”, 09/21/2017”] Even if it’s good reason to track suspect’s phones, it leads to large questions on how this technology can be used in the future. Slowly and surely, the government and law enforcement is violating our basic liberties and rights. This is unacceptable and continuing these unlawful practices will lead down a very dark path.

We cannot allow these violations to continue. America cannot turn into a totalitarian Gestapo state. History has shown us what happens to countries who sacrifice their civil liberties. Citizens in Nazi Germany surrendered many of their personal freedoms for a better economic, social and safe life. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany passed a law called the Reichstag fire decree which took away many of civil rights of the common German citizen. The freedom of speech, freedom of press, public assembly, habeas corpus, and privacy in the mail and telephone were all voided. [smithsonianmag.com, The True Story of the Reichstag Fire and the Nazi Rise to Power, Lorraine Boissoneault, 02/21/2017] It was one of the key steps in the establishment of a one-party Nazi dictatorship. Similar to today, the Nazi government introduced the decree for the protection of the people and the Reich. [ushmm.org] The end result was a one-party system, systematic murders and mass imprisonment throughout the country. German citizens had their rights stripped away and secret police wielded almost unlimited power. Political opponents silenced, the media became the enemy of the people, and millions died while the average citizen watched and stood idle. Continuing down this road of mass surveillance and invasions of privacy will lead down the same road that Nazi Germany took. It all started with limiting the rights of the common citizen for the benefit of the people and the state. History always repeats itself.

Limiting our liberties and civil freedoms may seem like the start of of a tyrannical government. The times we live in is very different than what it was twenty or thirty years ago. Our enemy is hidden amongst us. Terrorism has no uniform, no colors, no flag, just a shared dangerous, diluted ideology. A new era in world history started on September 11th, 2001. Thousands of Americans lost their lives in the twin towers and Pentagon attacks. We cannot let their sacrifices go to vein. It’s our responsibility to protect ourselves and our future generations from another tragedy like this.

Today, we’re honoring their memory and protecting our country by the use of the Patriot and USA Freedom Acts. These acts have thwarted and stopped over 30 terrorist attacks just in the mainland U.S alone. [heritage.org, James Carafano, Jessica Zuckerman, Jena McNeil, 30 Terrorist Plots Foiled, 04/29/2010] One of the most famous uses of the Patriot Act in stopping a terrorist attack was in 2009. A subway bombing was thwarted in New York. Five men with links to al-Qaeda were arrested on terrorism charges The NSA and federal government were listening to communications between the alleged terrorists and bomb makers in Pakistan. If the attack was successful, the aftermath would have been catastrophic. [nytimes.com, Guilty Plea Made in Plot to Bomb New York Subway, G. Sulzberger, 02/22/2010] The Patriot Act and increased surveillance of suspicious individuals is key to preventing another 9/11. If the government wants to view our emails and phone calls to prevent lives from being lost, then by all means they should be able to. Most of us have nothing at all to hide and are law-abiding Americans. In the long run, increased national security enables us to practice our civil rights and individual liberties. Without an increased level of national security, we’d be under constant attack from terrorism. Limiting our liberties is just a very small price to pay for a safer community and country.

Admittedly, national security is indeed an utmost priority for all Americans. and if our phone records and personal data will help our government in catching terrorists then by all means, they should be able to use it. It is justifiable if our civil liberties are infringed upon if it’s in the sake of national security. What harm can the government do if I have nothing incriminating to hide? What will they look at? Text messages between friends and family, work emails, phone calls? Millions of Americans have nothing to hide. Not all of us have traitorous thoughts in our heads but some of us do and that gives justification in the federal government to weed out suspected terrorists born abroad and homegrown. We’ve already proven that terrorists are trying to enter our country and some U.S citizens are affiliated with terror groups. We cannot think that everyone has their country’s best interests and safety in mind.

Our civil liberties and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S Constitution cannot be trampled on and diluted by fear and hate. National security is indeed a top priority in today’s world but, security and safety should not constitute warrantless searches, wiretaps, mass collection of records, and spying on American citizens. Even with the possibility of a terrorist in our midst, our personal unalienable rights should not infringed upon. There are other ways we can root out a terrorist without violating our lawful rights. A quote said by Benjamin Franklin almost 300 years ago, still carries much weight in today’s disturbing world. “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.’ Benjamin Franklin’s words from almost 300 years are still eerily relevant today. We cannot give up our liberties for safety and security. The endgame of that is we will be losing both..

By walking down this dangerous road of slowly giving up our liberties for security. We come closer and closer to turning into a totalitarian and tyrannical government. History has proven time and time again of the dangers of giving away our individual rights. Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Khmer Rouge, the USSR are all examples of what happened to countries whose citizens allowed their government to take away their rights. Mass genocides, authority who wield almost unlimited power, mass surveillance by a secret police. The press and media became the enemy of the people, political opponents were silenced, books and other writings against the state were disposed of and banned. By studying what happened, you’ll realize that it all started with limiting the rights of the common citizen during a war, insurgency, rebellion, or act of terrorism. Fear, hate, and terror cannot prevail during our darkest hour.

One of my favorite quotes that I use in my life is a quote by Edmund Burke, an Irish statesman and philosopher. He said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. It’s up to us as the common, everyday American citizen to regulate our government, demand for our rights and stop the spread of deceit, lies, and violations of our basic guaranteed rights before this leads down a path that we won’t be able to come back from. America, the land of opportunity, freedom, and liberty cannot become a country of mass surveillance and tyranny. Hate, fear, and terror cannot win this war. Terrorism is indeed one of the greatest threats to our society and our way of life but, a greater threat than that is when we permit the government to command our lives, invade our privacy, broaden searches without court orders, all without any sort of oversight, we are on a very short road to tyranny. It all started with limiting civil rights. History always seems to repeat itself. It’s up to us to break that cycle.