ACLU of KY Participates in Louisville Restore the 4th Event
The ACLU of KY gathered with a crowd 4th of July afternoon to demand our government respect the 4th Amendment and the privacy of Americans. In case you weren't able to make it out, here is a copy of our comments:
Beyond the picnics and the pageantry, the Fourth of July is about the revolutionary ideas that truly make our country great, including the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Privacy from overzealous government intrusion was a central concern for the Founders of the United States. In our Constitution, they introduced the bold notion that government agents should not intrude in our personal property and effects without proper justification--namely, a probable cause warrant issued with specificity and judicial oversight. At the time this was revolutionary, but it's now a tradition that is essential to the American way of life.
Click here for more event pictures
That tradition is now in jeopardy for a number of reasons. First, with the advent of 21st century communication technology courts have found it challenging to apply the Fourth Amendment to all the personal information we generate by making phone calls, using the internet and email, and carrying electronic devices that track our location. The challenge is not because this personal information isn't worthy of protection, but because it is held by third party "service providers" instead of kept in our pockets or our homes.
I don’t have to remind you about the second reason why our right to privacy is being challenged. Just a few weeks ago, massive secret spying programs conducted by the NSA were revealed. About 24 hours after the NSA’s unconstitutional activities came to light, the ACLU filed suit against the government demanding these programs be stopped immediately. We are asking for any information collected through these programs to be destroyed, and we’re pushing the secret surveillance court to release its rulings and opinions to allow meaningful public debate.
In addition to this specific work related to the NSA’s activities, we continue our work to reform the Patriot Act. Specifically Section 215 which greatly expands the government’s ability to spy on anyone in this country without probable cause and without a search warrant. We believe this not only violates our 4th Amendment rights, but our 1st and 5th Amendment rights as well. If you want to learn more about what the ACLU is doing locally and nationally to defend our civil liberties visit our website www.aclu-ky.org.
In every generation, we must renew our commitment to our essential American values. As ACLU founder Roger Baldwin said, “So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy.” Thank you for coming out today to carry forward the legacy of our Founders in this precarious time for civil liberties.
For more information on Louisville's Restore the 4th Movement click here
