Expert Comments on Wisdom of Patriot Act Extension

Newswise — Today President Bush will again be arguing for the extension of the Patriot Act. In reviewing the act, Hamilton College government professor Robert Martin contends that, "What's missing is an appreciation of our history. Past restrictions of personal freedom and especially privacy in the face of national security threats should give us pause. From the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII, we Americans have time and time again approved restrictions on our freedoms only to regret it years later."

Martin, who teaches a seminar at Hamilton College titled, "Civil Liberties in Wartime," quotes Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety deserve neither." Martin adds, "History suggests that powers given will be powers used; just ask radicals hauled before McCarthy in the '50s or those spied on by the FBI in the '60s.

"The Patriot Act gives lots of new powers, via myriad 'small but significant changes.' Apply all these new surveillance tools with minimized or removed judicial oversight on a political radical--newly labeled a 'domestic terrorist'--and the FBI file on Martin Luther King, Jr. will look like a mere Post-It note.

"It's not that we don't need more debate about this serious public policy issue. But we must remain mindful of our troubling history of trading liberty for security."

Hamilton College government professor Robert Martin teaches political theory, and his interests include American political thought, democratic theory, constitutional law, issues of privacy and those related to the First Amendment. His current book, "The Free and Open Press: The Founding of American Democratic Press Liberty," was published by NYU Press. His work has appeared in "History of Political Thought" and "Political Research Quarterly."