A Call to Service: on Civil Rights

Voted for PATRIOT Act, but genuinely alarmed at PATRIOT II

I voted for the USA Patriot Act [but] I'm genuinely alarmed at what I've seen of the Patriot II Act. One of its provisions would apparently enable federal employees to strip US citizens of their rights without due process. More broadly, it would create a separate, very shadowy justice system for terrorist suspects in which most of the rights and procedures normally guaranteed criminal suspects can be abrogated at the discretion of the government.

As a former prosecutor and something of a specialist in dealing with international drug and terror networks, I know there's a big difference between giving the government the resources and commonsense leeway it needs to track and tough and devious foe and giving in to the temptation of taking shortcuts that will sacrifice liberties cheaply without significantly enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement. Patriot II threatens to cross that line-and to a serious degree. As president, I wouldn't propose it, and if it were passed I would veto it.

Source: A Call to Service, by John Kerry, p.177-8

*The above quotations are from A Call to Service, by John Kerry, published Oct. 2003.* Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights. Click here for more quotes by John Kerry on Civil Rights.
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George W. Bush Dick Cheney John Edwards John Kerry *Third Party Candidates:* Michael Baradnik Peter Camejo David Cobb Ralph Nader Michael Peroutka	*Democratic Primaries:* Carol Moseley Braun Wesley Clark Howard Dean Dick Gephardt Bob Graham Dennis Kucinich Joe Lieberman Al Sharpton
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