Constitution Killers

Vital freedoms afforded under the Bill of Rights have been stripped by Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed by Congress and signed into law, January 1, 2012.

The small section is easy to miss when reading through the 565 page Bill, but it’s potent. It authorizes the use of military force and indefinite detention without trial against anyone, including United States citizens, if suspected of “hostilities” against the US. This is a direct violation of due process, afforded under the Bill of Rights.

Post-9/11, Congress panicked and authorized stunning new government instruments including the Department of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act, which encroach upon privacy, civil liberties, and basic human dignity. The State is now further strengthened by Section 1021.

From police harassment of peaceful Occupy Rochester protesters to the proposed introduction of national identification cards, the reach and legal authority of the government to invade the privacy and individual civil liberties of the American people has grown, seemingly without bound and without warrant.

We surrender even more of our civil liberties to the government’s lure of safety and security. TSA gropes our children, our elders are stripped of human dignity by invasive bodily searches, and all American travelers are treated as potential criminals. Still the question remains, have these demeaning protocols made us safer?

Americans are beginning to wake and defend against Orwellian legislation like NDAA. In a unified group, members of the tea party, occupy movement, and Libertarians protested NDAA, particularly Section 1021, February 13, 2012, in Medford, Oregon. Additionally, freshman Congressman Jeff Landry (R-LA) proposed a bill to overturn the highly unconstitutional Section 1021, as did Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX).

“When will we stop fixing elections and start fixing the electoral process by electing representatives who stand for freedom and the Constitution?” asks Christina Tobin, founder and chair of The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. “Our freedoms are under attack by our own government and it is our duty as citizens to remind our elected officials of their duty to us.”