| . Politics
& Government
DownStreet's Monthly
Straw Poll
. DownStreet's
Monthly Straw Poll:
Do You Think the
New Anti-Terrorism Laws and Meaures
Violate Constitutional Rights? Background:
In
connection with DownStreet's on-going Special Report: Terrorism
& the War to End It, this month's Puzzling
Evidence provides the first of a multi-part series entitled The
Constitution in Times of Crisis. This series focuses on some of
the questions that have arisen about the possible conflict between, on the
one hand, new anti-terrorism legislation or the President's institution of
secret military tribunals and, on the other, the Bill of Rights and other
constitutional issues. We here in Vermont may be especially
tuned to this debate since, for whatever reasons we may have, our own
Senator Patrick Leahy, as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has
been at the forefront in the attempt to craft legislation that will be
effective while having the least impact upon fundamental civil rights and
liberties. Of course, opinions will differ as to how effective he
has been in that regard. But, as the title of our series tries to
acknowledge, these are critical times, and the need to balance what has
come to be called 'Homeland Security' while simultaneously securing the
Bill of Rights has raised both questions and, in some circles, hackles. But
DownStreet's Straw Poll is not about what they're thinking down in
Washington or at think tanks around the country ... it's about
what you think. And we'd like to know. We
invite you to read Part 1 of The
Constitution in Times of Crisis, the Introduction
and H.R.
3162: How One Bill Became Law for a fuller discussion of some of the
issues associated with this month's Straw Poll. Either way, however,
we invite you to participate in this month's poll. This
poll is now closed. *******
******* .
.
*******
******* If there is some issue or referendum
you'd like to see DownStreet conduct a Straw Poll on, please let us
know by e-mailing us at politics@downstreetmagazine.com . | 