AP: New terror laws used vs. common criminals. In the two years since law enforcement agencies gained fresh powers to help them track down and punish terrorists, police and prosecutors have increasingly turned the force of the new laws not on al-Qaida cells but on people charged with common crimes.
This is a surprise only to people who believe George Bush and his ‘Justice’ Department didn’t know exactly what they were doing from the start. They used Sept. 11 to get everything else on their agenda.
Suddenly, people are realizing that crime of the old style has been redefined as terrorism. This is a an abuse of law and order. For this crowd, it’s business as usual.
Posted by: Ran Talbott on September 17, 2003 12:11 PM
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone: they’ve been doing
this sort of thing with the asset forfeiture laws for years.
More recently, we’ve had people who merely pulicize
embarrasssing computer vulnerabilities prosecuted under
the laws intended to punish people who make use of them
to do harm.
Those who doubt that this is part of “an agenda” should note
that Ashcroft showed up on Capitol Hill with a shredded in
one hand, and a ready-to-enact copy of “Bill of Rights 2.0”
in the other, before the fires at the WTC were put out.
Posted by: Camilo on September 16, 2003 08:02 AM
How long until dissenting is made into a crime? How long until we do something about this erosion of civil liberties?