Rescuing the Constitution, Nat Hentoff

Source:
Jewish World Review
http://www.jewishworldreview.com

Rescuing the Constitution
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff1.asp

Dec. 17, 2001

Nat Hentoff

AT the start of both the civil rights and anti-Vietnam-war movements,
a majority of Americans did not support either campaign. But,
through teach-ins and other educational projects -- from newspaper
ads to marches on Washington -- the direction of the nation was
changed.

The odds against similar organized national opposition to the Bush
administration's weakening of the Constitution, particularly the Bill
of Rights, are much longer than they were in the 1960s. Not only do
polls show overwhelming public support for the diminishing of civil
liberties; but Congress -- except for a few vocal constitutionalists
-- is not going to vigorously exercise its oversight powers over John
Ashcroft and the Justice Department.

As Democrat John Dingell, a longtime, influential member of the
House, told the Dec. 5 New York Times, "I hear a lot of members
saying they're concerned, but not many willing to say it publicly."

There is insistent public opposition from civil libertarians, both on
the left and the right; but the attorney general's often unilateral,
scorched-earth approach to the Bill of Rights takes on new dimensions
so frequently that his critics have been able only so far to react.
There hasn't been time to organize pressure nationwide so that
Congress will awaken to the separation of powers that is at the core
of our system of governance.

A new addition to John Ashcroft's war on both terrorism and our
Constitution is his plan -- under the expanded surveillance powers in
the USA Patriot Act -- to reintroduce a current version of COINTELPRO
(Counterintelligence Operation). From 1956 to 1971, the FBI not only
monitored religious and political groups purportedly linked to
Communist operations, but the bureau also infiltrated and disrupted
these organizations.

Among the FBI's targets were anti-war, civil rights and black
nationalist groups, along with various liberal organizations that
opposed certain government foreign policies. The Communist Party
itself was, of course, included. But, as a reporter throughout that
period, I can attest that many of the COINTELPRO probes were directed
at entirely lawful groups and individuals without any ties to
Communism.

Finally, in 1975, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Activities (the Church Committee) began to hold hearings and
otherwise investigate COINTELPRO. The committee concluded that this
FBI operation was "a sophisticated and vigilante program aimed
squarely at preventing the exercise of First Amendment rights of
speech and association, on the theory that preventing the growth of
dangerous groups and the propagation of dangerous ideas would protect
the national security and deter violence."

The Church Committee (named for Idaho Sen. Frank Church, its
chairman) added: "The American people need to be reassured that never
again will an agency of the government be permitted to conduct a
secret war against those citizens it considers threats to the
established order."

But a Dec. 3 Wall Street Journal story headlined "Justice Department
Considers Stepping Up Monitoring of Religious, Political Groups"
reported that the FBI will, under this proposal, no longer be held to
"Justice Department regulations requiring agents to show probable
cause that a crime was afoot before spying on political or religious
organizations." Those regulations were put in place after the Church
Committee exposed the FBI's disgraced COINTELPRO record.

On a Dec. 2 episode of ABC's "This Week," Attorney General John
Ashcroft not only did not deny the advent of a new COINTELPRO, but
stoutly maintained that he will pursue whatever has to be done in the
war against terrorism. He doesn't need congressional approval for
this assault on the First and Fourth Amendments.

During what passed for a congressional debate on Ashcroft's
anti-terrorism bill, the American Civil Liberties Union organized a
Coalition in Defense of Freedom in Time of National Crisis. Opposing
parts of that bill, which became law, was the largest array of civil
liberties organizations I have ever seen -- from left to right and
center. Included were: The Center for Constitutional Rights; the
Free Congress Foundation; the American Friends Service Committee; Gun
Owners of America; the NAACP Board of Directors; the Rutherford
Institute; and Amnesty International USA.

If enough of these groups -- and individuals also intent on rescuing
constitutional rights -- can move from reacting to organize a
national coalition, Congress can be moved to act before, as
Republican Congressman Bob Barr says, "This massive suspension of
civil liberties ... will likely set precedents that will come back to haunt us terribly."

JWR contributor Nat Hentoff is a First Amendment authority and author
of numerous books. Send your comments to him by clicking on the
link. [mailto:schmooze [at] jewishworldreview.com]

Nat Hentoff Archives
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