Civil Liberties Advocates Fear Boston Marathon Fallout
May push the country to sacrifice freedom for security promises
MADISON – With that first bomb blast in Boston Monday, the United States' stable, albeit fragile, sense of security took a terrible beating.
The pandemonium, the scream of sirens, the heartbreaking cries of the badly hurt and dying, the terror. All are again seared into the American consciousness.
But the bombs that blew up the Boston Marathon, may have claimed another victim beyond the three people killed and more than 170 injured: Basic individual freedoms.
One civil liberties observer believes the Bill of Rights can't take another assault in the balancing act of securing the homeland and protecting the values that made America the Land of the Free.
Shahid Buttar, executive director of the Northampton, Mass.-based Bill of Rights Defense Committee, asserts the United States in the past decade-plus has passed Benjamin Franklin's maxim, that, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Buttar fears the latest apparent terrorist attack on U.S. soil will push the country further into a nation that prefers security over fundamental rights.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?