Civil Liberties

1
Civil Liberties

• Bertram C. Bruce
• Graduate School of
• Library Information Science
• U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2
History

• 1798 -- Alien Sedition Acts
• 1862-65 -- Habeas Corpus
• 1917-20 -- deportations
• 1942 -- Executive Order 9066
• 1947-1954 -- HUAC, McCarthy
• 2001-present -- Patriot Act, IAO

3
1798 -- war raging in Europe

• Pres. John Adams initiates military measures
• leading to undeclared war with France
• opposition from Thomas Jefferson
• Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, accuse
  Democratic-Republicans of treason

4
Alien and Sedition Acts

• Alien Act deport any non-citizen judged
  dangerous to US peace and safety
• no right to a hearing or to present evidence
• Sedition Act prohibit false, scandalous, or
  malicious writing against the government
• aggressive criticism of Adams deemed unlawful

5
Later

• "Court of history" rules
• Pres. Jefferson pardons all the convicted
• Congress repays the fines
• Federalist party declines in power

6
1862-65 -- Civil War

• more deaths than in any other US war
• 1/3 of soldiers were casualties
• need for military security
• fear of enemies at home

7
Suspend Writ of Habeas Corpus

• Pres. Abraham Lincoln suspends writ of habeas
  corpus eight times
• "all persons,,, guilty of any disloyal practice..
  shall be subject to court martial"
• 38,000 civilians imprisoned

8
Later

• 1866 Supreme Court says Lincoln exceeded his
  authority
• Habeas Corpus cannot be suspended, even in war

9
1917-20 -- World War I

• US enters World War I
• many citizens believe the goal is not to "make
  the world safe for democracy," but to protect the
  interests and investments of the wealthy
• fear of immigrants

10
Federal prosecutions

• 2000 people prosecuted for opposing the war and
  the draft, up to 15 years in prison
• 245 people, including Emma Goldman, deported to
  Russia.
• Supreme Court upholds convictions of Eugene V.
  Debs and others

11
Later

• government releases every person who had been
  convicted
• Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt grants amnesty,
  restoring civil rights
• eventually, Supreme Court overrules every WWI
  decision supporting actions against dissent

12
1941-45 -- World war II

• Dec. 7, 1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
• "loss of innocence"
• fear of resident Japanese

13
Executive Order 9066

• Feb. 19, 1942 designates military areas from
  which "any persons may be excluded"
• 110,000 people forced to leave home 2/3 were US
  citizens
• no charges, no hearings, no knowledge of their
  fate many lose everything
• two days before, Atty, Gen, Francis Biddle "no
  evidence of any planned sabotage"
• 1944 Korematsu v US upholds FDR

14
Later

• 1980 Congress concludes Exec. Order 9066
  violates civil rights
• 1988 Civil Liberties Act offers Pres. apology
  and reparations

15
1950s -- Korean War, Cold War

• fear of Communism
• anti-Semitism

16
Investigations

• 1947 Parnell Thomas and the House Un-American
  Activities Committee investigates organized
  labor, the Federal Government, Hollywood
• 1950 Sen. McCarthy claims he has a list of
  "known communists" employed by the State
  Department
• 1952 McCarthy becomes chair of the Permanent
  Investigations Subcommittee
• 1951-52 hearings lead to "naming of names" more
  than 324 people fired by the studios and no
  longer permitted to work

17
Later

• December, 1954 Senate votes to censure McCarthy

18
What does this mean for today?

• Greater awareness of the importance of civil
  liberties?
• Enlarged sensibility to global concerns?
• Expanded means for information exchange?

19
A pattern?

• Conditions war hysteria, racial and religious
  prejudice, fear
• (1) abridgement of civil liberties in the name of
  patriotism
• (2) hardship and injustices
• (3) eventual repudiation of the war-based laws
  and restoration of civil liberties

20
2001-03 -- Terrorism

• NYC World Trade Center attack on 9/11
• fear of terrorism
• racial and religious prejudice

21
Patriot Act I

• expands wiretaps, search warrants, pen/trap
  orders, and subpoenas
• allows spying by foreign intelligence agencies
• FBI and CIA can now access phones and computers
  w/o demonstrating use by a suspect or target of
  an order

22
Patriot Act I -- more

• ISPs, libraries forced to hand over user
  information
• new definitions of terrorism expand scope of
  surveillance
• collection of DNA for "any crime of violence."
• information sharing between domestic law
  enforcement and intelligence

23
Information Awareness Office

• will imagine, develop, apply, integrate,
  demonstrate, and transition information
  technologies, components, and prototype
  closed-loop information systems that will counter
  asymmetric threats by achieving total information
  awareness that is useful for preemption, national
  security warning, and national security decision
  making.
• original IAO site

24
Patriot Act II

• removes Freedom of Information Act protections
  for detainees
• nullifies consent decrees against state law
  enforcement agencies that prevent spying on
  individuals and organizations
• strips citizenship from anyone who gives
  "material support" to any group that the Atty.
  Gen. designates as a terrorist organization

25
Later?
26
"Naturally the common people don't want war

• Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that
  matter in Germany. That is understood. But,
  after all, It is the leaders of the country who
  determine the policy and it is always a simple
  matter to drag the people along, whether it is a
  democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a
  parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or
  no voice, the people can always be brought to the
  bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you
  have to do is tell them they are being attacked,
  and denounce the peacemakers for lack of
  patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It
  works the same in any country.
• --Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg trials, 1946

27
References

• Schneider, Karen G.(2002, March) , The Patriot
  Act Last refuge of a scoundrel. American
  Libraries.
• Stone, Geoffrey R. (2003, February 16). Civil
  liberties at risk again A U. S. tradition.
  Chicago Tribune.