CONCENTRATION STUDIES

Concentration studies on domestic terrorism and extremist groups - The PL107-56

Concentration studies on domestic terrorism and extremist groups - The PL107-56

On October 26, 2001, the PL107-56 became a law with the signature of President Bush. The bill was passed through Congress at such a fast pace that there was not enough time for amendments and some representatives complained on the floor that they had not even had time to read the bill. The Government views this law as a means to stop terrorism, while activists working for civil liberties see many parts of this act as radical, trampling on American's constitutional rights (Kraut, 2011). The uppermost right of human beings is the right to freedom and liberty. For the protection and achievement of this right, people have rebelled against national governments, overcome walls, left behind home countries and fought and still fight terrible wars (Quirk, Seddon & Smith, G., 2011). Nonsensically, the land of the free constrained their most cherished liberty rights in order to be free with the enforcement of the PL107-56.

Considering the divers mentioned arguments regarding the PL107-56, I have to conclude, that it is a very complicated issue and it asks for a very deep examination to decide whether the provisions of the PL107-56 go too far or even not far enough. Evaluating the circumstances under which the Act was passed, it occurred when everyone was still at a state of shock and the whole world's attention was turned to America (Appel, 2011). Under these burdened conditions it would be hard for nearly everybody to keep a clear head and to even establish provisions that shall assure liberty rights in the biggest need of protectionism. Because of that, I think that the PL107-56 can be seen as a more Emotional Act.

Senators also admitted that they haven't even read the whole Act and its numerous Sections before it was passed. For example, Senator John Conyers, Jr. answered to that accusation: “We don't really read most of the bills. Do you know what that would entail if we read every bill that we passed […] it would slow down the legislative process.” Jim Dempsey (Center for Democracy and Technology) spoke out the same impression immediately before passing the Act in October 2001. Several times he tried to interfere with the rush to push through legislation and express his concerns on Title II. But he only raised a ...