Dissent: Don't Destroy Liberty to Save It

As we seek to reconstruct our lives after the events of Sept. 11, it is important not to let confusion, intimidation or fear rule our actions. Instead, we must preserve the freedoms and liberties that have characterized this country. Calls for new security measures—at any cost —are now easy to make; it is much harder to preserve our basic civil liberties.

Installing surveillance technology as the staff suggests would allow the government to keep detailed records of where individuals go—not only terrorists, but all Americans. Once the system is in place to find terrorists, who could oppose adding serial killers to its database? Why not escaped felons, or violators of parole? Who would support the right of petty thieves—or anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant—to walk the streets? After all, criminals on the lam have no right to be in stadiums, libraries or public parks, where cameras would no doubt be installed. By not drawing a firm line against intrusive technologies that Orwell never imagined, the staff opens the door to universal, 24-hour government surveillance

If better identification systems are needed, individualized technologies such as electronic fingerprinting can complement photo ID’s. We should not give the government the power to monitor all public spaces—nor give up our ideals, our values and our liberties out of fear.

—Emma R.F. Nothmann ’04 , Meredith B. Osborn ’02,

and Stephen E. Sachs ’02