Why should Sept 11 change civil liberties issues? Clearly things will change and become less convenient. That does not mean it is an excuse to start whittling away at civil liberties.

A National ID card that stays in my pocket and is never used is a waste, at best. It is how it will be used that is troubling.

As a non-public personality, I have a certain "right" to my name and facts about me. As the privacy debate rages, there is a move to make such information an property right. As such, the government would be limited to access by the due process clause. Do we do away with that?

Will it be used to track where I travel? Will that have a "chilling effect" on my right of assembly? If so even the current court may follow precedent and declare it unconstitutional. Will information so collected be used, either directly to gather evidence for any kind of crime or indirectly to ?profile? people and allow the police to focus on them?. How would that sit with the rules of evidence? With due process. The SCUSA recently rules that the use of heat sensing devices from outside the house to detect indoor pot farms was illegal without a search warrant. To be useful, how will the database of information collected be protected from an illegal search? Will it. Can it? Should it?.

Those in favor of an ID card answer is that we may have to give up those rights. Under what legal theory do we have to or should we?. To fight terrorism? Then what about murder? Drug related crimes?. Where does the slippery slope stop?

If Sept 11 is a valid reason to erode some of our rights, then it is a valid reason to do away with others. Habeas corpus, trail by jury, the right to an attorney........ which leads me to suspect that maybe Sept 11 isn?t a valid excuse for any of it.

Just how far do we need to go to feel safe. As far as Abraham Lincoln went?

The constitution, lets remember is a limiting document. When it comes to the powers, rights and duties of the government what is not required is forbidden.

Regards

John