BURNS IS WRONG: LAW TAKES AWAY CIVIL RIGHTS

It appears that Sen. Burns has made his opponent's case regarding the
Patriot Act with his statement that only terrorists, suspected
terrorists, and affiliates of the mafia and drug kings have lost any rights.

I've heard the "if you haven't done anything, you have nothing to
fear" argument before, and those using that argument forget that
civil rights exist to protect the innocent. A false accusation can
come in many forms, including physical similarity to a suspect, false
witness or setup, same last name, identity theft, or just being in
the wrong place at the wrong time. Our civil rights are our defense
against prosecution for crimes we did not commit.

Additionally, the law of unintended consequences makes this type of
legislation particularly dangerous. For example, an official with a
passion for the "war on drugs" could conceivably twist the meaning of
"affiliation with drug kingpins" to mean anyone who is suspected of
selling, buying, or using drugs. The key words are "suspected of."
This may be an extreme scenario; however, many of our laws are
twisted far beyond their original intent (for example, look up the
definition of "navigable waters of the U.S.").

Our system is not a perfect one. However, our civil rights are there
for our protection, and generally do a reasonable job of maintaining
some semblance of fairness in the legal system.

Todd Rydquist

Billings