TRAMPLING YOUR RIGHTS

My former boss Ron Woodgeard and I rarely saw eye-to-eye on a number of
issues. In fact, we had some almost legendary in-house debates over certain
topics about which we could not agree during editorial board sessions. But
there was one issue on which he and I marched to the same drummer.

It was Georgia's "Click-it or Ticket" program, and we both felt very
strongly that this program was a farce designed to give police an
opportunity to search motorists' cars when they wouldn't be able to do so
otherwise.

Ron, who died earlier this year after a tenacious battle with cancer,
believed very strongly that government shouldn't devise programs which
would permit police to get around citizens' constitutional protections.

You see, Ron knew that despite law-enforcement protestations, cops don't
spend a lot of time worrying whether or not you or I wear a seat belt. They
will enforce the law to that effect if they don't have anything more
important to do at the time. But what they wanted - and what they got,
courtesy of the numbskulls in our General Assembly - is a now
seven-year-old law that permits them to stop motorists at a roadblock on
the pretense that they are checking seat belts, when in fact they really
want to see if the driver has drugs in the car or is violating some law
that they consider important.

Before "Click It," a police officer couldn't just stop you and demand to
look into your car just because he thought it might be productive to do so.
He or she had to have reasonable cause - evidence - to believe that you
were breaking the law, or that you were transporting illegal substances,
before acting on those suspicions. There were and still are drivers'
licence checks, which let them stop motorists along the road, but "Click
It" put a new weapon in their arsenal.

Disingenuous? You be the judge: Here is the official definition of the
program: "Click It or Ticket is an education and enforcement campaign
sponsored by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The goal is to save lives
and reduce injuries on Georgia roadways through strict enforcement of seat
belt and child safety seat laws."

That's reasonable, isn't it? We all want to save lives and better protect
our kids from carnage on the highway. Sure, no problem there. But wait,
let's explore a little deeper.

The "Click It" goal is achieved by establishing numerous police roadblocks
during a specific period several times a year and checking to see if seat
belts are being properly used. If not, then tickets will be issued. But
tell me, how dense do you have to be to not realize that if you're
approaching a police roadblock you better belt up, if you haven't already?

When local police jump-started the campaign a week ago, there were 49
arrests from two roadblocks - and not one of those had anything to do with
seat belt use. As Peach County's Lt. Kenny Cameron noted, "If they pulled
up without their seat belt on, they'd be an idiot."

Right, Kenny.

Some people question what the big deal is - why should they be concerned if
they are not breaking the law and a cop wants to check their car? If the
program leads to arrests, then the end justifies the means, OK?

Sorry, wrong. Police must have solidly established limits. Almost
everywhere we look, our rights are threatened, whether it's national
legislation eroding our liberty to protect us from terroristic threats or
something as simple as the "Click It" program, which brings home the fact
that the very people we depend on for protection are eroding our freedoms.

Benjamin Franklin observed, and it's worth repeating: "If we're willing to
trade our liberty for security, then we won't have - and don't deserve -
either."

If you're not bothered by this, maybe you might want to reconsider your
position.

Phil Dodson is a member of the editorial board.