PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri today asked the General Assembly to
withdraw from consideration his proposed homeland-security legislation,
which drew fire from constitutional scholars and the state chapter of
the American Civil Liberties Union over its potential infringement of
constitutional rights.
Carcieri prepared
the bill as part of his legislative agenda in an effort to strengthen the
state's anti-terrorism laws following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on America.
But critics claimed that the legislation, if passed, would have limited
how Rhode Islanders could exercise the five freedoms guaranteed by the
First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: freedom to assemble, freedom
of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of
petition.
"In light of these concerns, I have asked the General Assembly to
withdraw the current measure from consideration," Carcieri said in a
prepared statement released this afternoon.
Steven Brown, executive director of the local ACLU, said of Carcieri's
decision: "I'm very pleased. As the ACLU's analysis of the bill
documented, the legislation would have significantly eroded fundamental
constitutional rights of Rhode Islanders."
The ACLU brought attention to the issue in
a 13-page analysis published on its Web site Tuesday. The ACLU called the
legislation "extraordinarily dangerous" with "alarming ramifications for
political and labor protest, freedom of association, academic freedom
and the public's right to know."
Brown had issued a press release Tuesday pointing out the legislation's
perceived flaws and calling attention to the ACLU's analysis.
"We felt it was very important to make people aware of the very
dangerous consequences of this legislation," Brown said. "It's not the
sort of bill that should quietly make its way through the legislative
process."
The proposal soon caught the attention of constitutional scholars in
other parts of the country.
Paul McMasters, a nationally recognized expert at the First Amendment
Center in Arlington, Va., said, "What Governor Carcieri proposes is to
take the state of Rhode Island back 200 years. Dissent is at the heart
of democratic freedoms."
Referring to Rhode Island's founder, he continued, "From Roger Williams
on, Rhode Island has always been at the forefront of championing freedom
of speech in general and political discourse specifically."
Carcieri said his legislation was written after a thorough review of
laws to prevent and prosecute terrorism. Noting that state government
has a responsibility to protect the public by "responding to new and
evolving threats," Carcieri said his office decided that some laws
needed to be updated.
He said today he will continue to examine the issue.
"Going forward, I will solicit input from a variety of interested and
informed parties to determine what alterations to our existing laws are
necessary to protect public safety in a post-911 world.
"In the end, however, our response must be carefully measured against
preserving Americans' fundamental rights and liberties, including
freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of the press, freedom of
religion and freedom to petition. I intend to safeguard the right
guaranteed under the United States Constitution and the Constitution of
the State of Rhode Island," he said.
Brown said the state should carefully consider whether new laws are
really necessary. He says the federal government has passed a number of
laws to prevent terrorism and the issue is probably best handled on a
federal level.
He said, "I think it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and try to pass
something symbolically to show the state is trying to deal with this
very serious issue, but the problem is, in doing so, unintended
consequences can flow from that as we saw in the governor's initial try."
DIGITAL EXTRA:
Recap The Providence Journal's special report on "The Five Freedoms," which
examines how Rhode Islanders use their constitutional rights in their
daily lives.
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