Patriot II's Attack on Citizenship
By JOANNE MARINER

Monday, Mar. 03, 2003

A basic principle of American democracy is that members of
government serve at the behest of the citizenry, and not
vice-versa. The people, being sovereign, can use their
votes to "throw the bastards out," even though the government
has no reciprocal power to jettison disfavored citizens.

Our leadership may distrust or despise certain people, but
it cannot strip them of their citizenship involuntarily.
Murderers, child molesters, and tax evaders are subject
to criminal punishment, not denationalization.

Yet with the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, informally
known as "Patriot II," this basic rule is under attack. The
draft legislation, the Justice Department's proposed sequel
to the 2001 USA Patriot Act, was recently made public after
being leaked to the Center for Public Integrity. As Anita
Ramasastry explained in a previous column for this site,
the bill would go well beyond its predecessor in
threatening essential civil liberties.

Among Patriot II's most worrying provisions are those
affecting citizenship. Section 501 of the bill, deceptively
titled "Expatriation of Terrorists," would provide for the
presumptive denationalization of American citizens who
support the activities of any organization that the
executive branch has deemed "terrorist." While it is already
illegal to provide material support to such groups, even
for their lawful activities, such support is considered
grounds only for criminal prosecution, not for the loss
of citizenship.
Full text is available on the following link:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/mariner/20030303.html


GOD help us and end Bush's administration in 2004.