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CAIR REPORT - May 11, 2005
The status of Muslim civil rights in the United States – 2005
Conclusion and recommendations
“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.” [217] –Benjamin Franklin
The American Muslim community strongly supports national security efforts and understands the need to balance these efforts with hallmark constitutional and legal protections for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender or socioeconomic status. With over 1500 reports of civil rights violations against the American Muslim community in the last calendar year, it is apparent that post-9/11 backlash against Muslims, Arabs and South Asians continues to be a societal problem which needs to be redressed accordingly.
On December 31, 2005, sixteen sections of the USA PATRIOT Act are set to expire- or in legal parlance, “sunset.” [218] There is no federal initiative which will have a more long term effect on the constitutional and civil rights of all Americans in 2005 than the debate on the sunset provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
CAIR supports the passage of a bipartisan piece of legislation- the Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act [219], which was co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. The SAFE Act would amend the USA PATRIOT Act to add key checks and balances to law enforcement agencies. The SAFE Act aims to protect Americans’ civil liberties by making modest but important changes to several of PATRIOT’s most troublesome provisions.
CAIR supports the call to pass the SAFE Act which has been led by a coalition of liberal, conservative and libertarian groups called the Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances (PRCB) [220]. The coalition’s members include the ACLU, the American Conservative Union (ACU), Gun Owners of America and the Libertarian Party. The coalition’s aim is to preserve civil liberties while at the same time preserving America’s power to combat terrorism.
Civil and constitutional rights are non-partisan issues. Regardless of whether one is a Republican, Democrat or Independent, all Americans should be as stoic and vocal in demanding their legal, civil and constitutional rights for all Americans as we are dedicated to protecting our homeland from threats, both foreign and domestic.
217 See http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_security.html
218 Anita Ramasastry, “The Import But Flawed USA Patriot Act: Why Congress Should Allow Certain Provisions to Expire This Year,” FindLaw, April 20 2005 available at http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/ramasastry/20050420.html
219 S. 1709 available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.1709:
220 www.checksandbalances.org
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