“Give me liberty or give me death!” An iconic phrase uttered by Patrick Henry, one of the Founding Fathers of America and perhaps the most vocal advocate for the ratification of the Bill of Rights. While some Founding Fathers were content with the ratification of the Constitution, Henry fought for a Bill of Rights, reasoning that the Constitution lacked a clear delineation of individual rights and liberty. And now, over 200 years later, America still stands for the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, an increase in government intervention in our daily lives has slowly eroded the standard of liberty enshrined in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
An example of such intervention can be seen in the Patriot Act, passed a mere 45 days after the attacks on 9/11. Under the vague premises of the Patriot Act, the government compromised American citizens’ liberty by infringing on our rights to privacy in the name of national security. In the fourth amendment, which protects the privacy of persons and possessions, the right of the people to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated… but upon probable cause.” Contrary to this, the Patriot Act allowed the government to record and monitor the phone calls, emails, and credit reports of innocent Americans. As Representative Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin noted, the NSA has "scoop[ed] up the entire ocean to… catch a fish."
Although some may argue that this violation was necessary for maintaining the safety of Americans, the FBI has admitted that even under the Patriot Act, no major terrorist cases have been cracked. Additionally, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are the pillars of American foundation – to breach this is to go against the philosophy America was founded upon. Why should we protect a country that no longer upholds the values and beliefs our Founding Fathers fought for?
Secondly, some argue that the government has violated the American right to property and free market. As Roger Pilon mentions in his article The Constitutional Protection of Property Rights, both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment “contain Due Process Clauses that prohibit the government from depriving a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Fifth Amendment protects against the federal government; the Fourteenth Amendment protects against the states.” In a Bloomberg article, an average American pays up to 27% of their income to the government. Not to mention medicare, social security taxes, capital gains taxes and countless others. Jointly, the wealthiest Americans can pay up to 35% of their income in taxes. This could be interpreted as a violation of the American right to property and free market. Is a 35% tax on annual income within the parameters of constitutional rights? Even if it is, America remains 19 trillion dollars in debt, a number that increases by the second.
Thirdly, the Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Citizens of the United States have the right to fair trial and the right to remain silent, and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, countless incidents denied American citizens of their liberty and right to due process of law. Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Kindra Chapman, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown to list just a few names. These deaths illustrate how people are deprived of liberty and justice.
In just 2015, over 1,000 deaths have been due to police brutality. Some say these deaths were unjust and unconstitutional. In many cases of police killings, the officers claim that victims were armed, and officers were unsure if the person in question would shoot. Only 129 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in 2015, compared to over 1,000 deaths of police victims. Of the 129, only 39 died from deliberate gunfire. This is another case where the government infringes on the rights of Americans in the name of social justice and security.
There are countless other violations – including the threats to the University of Missouri, Alien and Sedition Acts, and Japanese relocation during World War II.
Sources:
https://www.aclu.org/feature/end-mass-surveillance-under-patriot-act
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.html
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/03/28/what-is-the-maximum-social-security-tax-for-2015.aspx
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/27/nsa-surveillance-program-illegal-aclu-lawsuit
http://www.wired.com/2014/10/twitter-sues-government/
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/03/28/what-is-the-maximum-social-security-tax-for-2015.aspx
https://www.ssa.gov/slge/mand_ssandmed_cov.htm
http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-facts/
http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/pilon_031009.pdf
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