Matt, Re the "newsbyte" item you recently distributed, assuring readers that the public still supports privacy rights at least for email and phone conversations... Following are passages from the survey write-up at the Pew Research Center site <http://www.people-press.org/terrorist01mor.htm>. The survey is about public attitudes in the wake of the terrorist attack. The quoted passages pertain to attitudes toward civil liberties. The newsbyte is somewhat misleading, because it mentions only those instances where most of the public is least comfortable with loss of liberty and greater surveillance of innocent people. It's a spin. I guess it _is_ lucky that "only" 29% of Americans support internment camps to round up LEGAL immigrants from hostile nations. And that 70% don't want their phone calls or email to be monitored. On the other hand, 70% would have no problem with a national ID card that would have to be presented on demand. 40% favor monitoring of their credit card purchases. I would be happy to learn that this survey is fundamentally flawed. If it isn't, we can only hope that second thoughts will prevail over time. If more than half think of us think it's hunky-dory to give up some freedom to combat terrorism, we're in trouble -- even if people are a little bit queasier about this particular measure or that particular measure. Especially when the public and the media and pols are all singing the same song about the "new balance" we need. Once the principle that people have certain inalienable rights is ceded, there is not much ground left to stand on when they find that they do not particularly like warrantless door-to-door searches or whatever. We all know that even "temporary" war-time violations of liberty are often retained after a war ends (as witness NYC rent controls). And this is a war that by all indications will be fought indefinitely. The liberty we lose now, we're not likely to get back any time soon. David M. Brown MOST SEE NEED TO SACRIFICE LIBERTIES Even more than was the case after the 1995 terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, Americans think it will be necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to combat terrorism. A majority (55%) say the average person will have to give up some freedoms in order to prevent such attacks in the future. The only dissent comes from respondents under age 30, where just 40% think restricting civil liberties will be necessary, while 50% disagree. Sacrifice Civil Liberties to Curb Terrorism? April March April Sept 1995* 1996 1997 2001 % % % % Yes 49 30 29 55 No 43 65 62 35 DK/Ref. 8 5 9 10 100 100 100 100 *L.A. Times In the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, roughly half of Americans (49%) felt that sacrificing some civil liberties would be necessary, but this view lost support in the years that followed. By March 1996, only 30% said they thought curbing civil liberties was a necessary step to control terrorism, while nearly two-in-three (65%) said it was not. Though most see a loss of civil liberties as a necessary step, many have reservations about government action. Nearly as many worry that government action might excessively restrict the average persons civil liberties (34%) as express concern that the government will not go far enough in enacting strong new terrorism laws (39%). No Draconian Measures Despite the expectation that it will be necessary to sacrifice some liberties, the public does not give blanket approval to all possible government responses to the terrorist threat, especially when it involves personal privacy. Seven-in-ten favor a requirement that citizens carry a national identity card at all times to show to a police officer on request, a proposal that has particularly strong support from women (75%). But the public is more dubious when it comes to government monitoring of telephone calls, e-mails and credit card purchases. Measures to Curb Terrorism Favor Oppose DK/Ref % % % National ID cards 70 26 4=100 CIA assassinations 67 22 11=100 CIA criminal contacts 67 22 11=100 Monitor credit cards 40 55 5=100 Internment camps 29 57 14=100 Monitor phone/e-mail 26 70 4=100 A majority (55%) would not favor permitting the government to monitor their credit card purchases, and fully seven-in-ten oppose allowing the government to monitor personal telephone calls and e-mails. Perhaps most important, Americans clearly reject the establishment of internment camps to round up legal immigrants from hostile nations. By roughly two-to-one (57% to 29%), the public opposes that idea. On each of the measures related directly to civil liberties, college-educated Americans express more concern about restricting freedoms than those with a high-school degree or less. By contrast, the public is much more willing to remove some of the shackles from the CIA in order to combat terrorism. Fully two-thirds favor allowing the CIA to conduct assassinations overseas when pursuing suspected enemies of the U.S., and an equal proportion are willing to allow the CIA to contract with criminals in pursuing suspected terrorists. Americans under age 50 and men express the strongest support for such actions. #### ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************