Okay, Joe Biden’s in the White House, and that’s GREAT NEWS! But there’s more! One hundred and thirty four civil rights groups have joined the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to send a letter to Congress saying that the U.S. already has plenty of statutes that allow the federal government to address the sort of violence displayed in the recent sacking of the Capitol and that additional legislation would simply increase the likelihood of violations of Americans’ civil liberties, something that has occurred far too often in the past:
We urge you to oppose any new domestic terrorism charge, the creation of a list of designated domestic terrorist organizations, or other expansion of existing terrorism-related authorities. We are concerned that a new federal domestic terrorism statute or list would adversely impact civil rights and — as our nation’s long and disturbing history of targeting Black Activists, Muslims, Arabs, and movements for social and racial justice has shown — this new authority could be used to expand racial profiling or be wielded to surveil and investigate communities of color and political opponents in the name of national security.
Over at Reason, Scott Shackford fills out the story with quotes from another letter, written by Rep. Rashida Tlaib and signed by nine more Democratic reps, making the same points:
While many may find comfort in the increased national security powers in the wake of this attack, we must emphasize that we have been here before and we have seen where that road leads. Our history is littered with examples of initiatives sold as being necessary to fight extremism that quickly devolve into tools used for the mass violation of the human and civil rights of the American people…
Liberals in favor of civil liberties? That’s so nice to hear! And so strange as well!
