Expert: Michael Troy - 1/6/2010

Question
Salutation,
As I recall our liberties established by the founding father of America entitled us certain freedoms. But within the last I would say fourty or so years, these freedoms have been either eliminated completely or erroded to a point of null and void.it would appear(At least to me).
 With the start of the Idustrial millitary complex,corppret lobbist and the insurgence of Homeland security.
My question to you is. Are we at the point of a police state under the guise of protecting us (Americans). from terrorist?

Answer
Hi Edward,  

The Founding Fathers did not believe they established any particular freedoms or liberties.  Rather, they held that these were inherent God given rights that were obvious ("self-evident") and a free people were obliged to insist on them.  They tried to encapsulate many of these rights in the Bill of Rights, but also recognized that it was up to the people to fight continually against encroachment on these rights.

Some rights have probably expanded over time, others have been restricted. Over the last 40 years or so, the 4th Amendment seems to have taken a particular beating.  Beginning with the "war on crime" in the Nixon Administration, the Courts began to allow more aggressive police searches against people for whom there was no evidence that they had done anything wrong.  The "war on drugs" in the 1980's saw an expansion of these police powers and the "war on terrorism" following 9/11 has expanded them even more.

I'm sure reasonable people would differ on what constitutes a "police state" or whether the US is becoming one.  Certainly most of us who are citizens and don't fall into the "enemy combatant" category at least have basic due process rights and are still protected by the rule of law.  Leaders who set policy are still democratically elected.  If people ultimately feel united about an important issue, leaders must accede to them.  But I suspect most of the founders would be appalled at the large professional police forces that are empowered to control and subdue the population.  I think the forced passivity and compliance of the citizenry would be greatly upsetting to men who believe the tree of liberty must from time to time by watered by the blood of tyrants and patriots and who thought that sacrificing freedom for security would get neither.

I hope this helps!
- Mike