Public Scholars at
Hanover College
Inquiries
Volume Six, Number Two - Winter 2006
A Problem of Interpretation
As Inquiries goes to press with this second issue on the USA Patriot Act, the debate about the Act continues to polarize the citizenry of the United States. Congress, having had a bit of time to reflect since the event that prompted the hurried passage of the Act, is proving somewhat resistant to renewing some of the more controversial provisions. The Bush Administration continues to insist that all the provisions of the Act are necessary for prosecuting the war on terror.
Despite the controversy, it seems likely that most of the provisions of the USA Patriot Act will be renewed, and perhaps even strengthened. And this makes it very likely that there will be challenges to the constitutionality of the Act, and that some of these will be adjudicated by the Supreme Court. The two essays in this issue of Inquiries delineate some of the parameters of the Constitutional battle that is almost certain.
These essays, like those in the last issue, take up the question of whether the provisions of the Patriot Act are merely incremental movements in familiar directions, or radical departures from everything that is familiar. But the focus is on questions of constitutionality, rather than on broad philosophical notions. John Yoo, a professor of law at UC-Berkeley, argues that the USA Patriot Act "represents a reasonable compromise to add to the government's counterterrorism powers and does not raise serious Constitutional problems." Susan Herman, a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, surveys Constitutional issues arising from the Patriot Act that already occupy the courts and concludes that the Act threatens a number of Constitutional guarantees.
It is possible that, as you read this, Congress has already acted. Even so, read on. The renewal of the USA Patriot Act is but the occasion for what promises to be a fascinating discussion of just what sort of freedom the Constitution guarantees.
John Ahrens John Ahrens is Professor of Philosophy at Hanover College and an Associate Director of the Center for Free Inquiry.