What Are the Right’s of A Citizen?
“It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.” - Robert H. Jackson
In order to truly comprehend what the rights of a citizen are, I believe we must first establish what a citizen truly is. A citizen, as defined by Webster Dictionary, is “a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it.”(Merriam Webster) I however, do not believe this statement does the “citizen” justice. Citizenship is a state of mind, and in an ideal democratic world, it to be cherished above all other. To be a citizen is to have true voice in the way he is governed, and to be able to lead the government in his own views. The citizen is, inherently, the basic building block of the modern nation-state. Without it, no other edifice of society can stand. A citizen, however, also has responsibilities to the state. Because he has been entrusted with such power, the citizen must be prepared to accept blame on behalf of his government. A citizen is, intrinsically, an extension of the state.
Now that here is a basic understanding of what it means to be a “citizen,” it is now possible to explain what “citizen’s rights” really entail. In the U.S. a citizen does have many basic rights guaranteed by our Constitution. Among these rights are: the freedoms of speech, press, and religion; the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom of assembly; the freedom to petition; and the rights to be free of unreasonable search and seizure; cruel and unusual punishment; and compelled self-incrimination. Sadly now, as we move into this modern age, we are seeing that the governments of the world are again cracking down on citizen’s rights. As the U.S. finds itself in an apparently never ending war against the idea of “terrorism” (How can an idea be defeated?) we find that our rights are being degraded in the name of “security.” As less and less citizens even care how they are governed, as long as they are governed, more radical leaders seem to pop up. These leaders are elected because their supporters actually do care, while the vast majority of the populace slumbers on toward Armageddon. Unless the democracies of the world wake up, I fear that soon, all the rights that we hold dear will be lost forever to history, all for the omnipotent presence “of security.”
I chose this topic because I really do care about the future of America, and the inherent rights of the American citizen. I want to establish what our rights truly are, and if they are really irrevocable. If our generation does not know when our rights are being taken away from us, how can we stop them?
How has Citizen’s Rights Changed?
The rights of citizens have changed greatly in the past few centuries. During the Medieval Ages, the average citizen’s rights shrank down to serfdom. As we passed out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, the rights of the citizen reappeared. Liberty and equality were the rallying cries of the poor across the world. This culminated in the United States Constitution and the French Revolution. As the world again makes a transition to the Information Age, a dividing point has been reached. We now have to balance personal securities and security issues.
History gives us many examples of the rise and fall of citizen’s rights. The world took its first tentative steps forward with the Magna Carta, which forced English King’s to respect the writ of habeus corpus, meaning that a person could not be jailed without reason (Magna Carta). The Magna Carta formed the basis for the United States’ Bill of Rights. The United States Bill of Rights guaranteed a citizen’s rights to religion, petition, assembly, press, and speech, in addition to many others (United States Bill of Rights). The Bill of Rights has been used as a model for almost all of the subsequent democracies in the world, with most nations borrowing from the Bill of Rights in some regard.
In the modern world, the advent of radical Islamic terrorism and the fear it has generated has resulted in some basic changes in citizen’s rights. The advance guard of this was the USA Patriot Act, which stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”(USA PATRIOT ACT). This act was passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trader Centers and the Pentagon, which killed 2,998 people in total. The act, which was approved with almost no debate and passed by wide-margins in both the House and Senate, (USA PATRIOT Act) has been criticized that it infringes upon civil liberties. One of the more controversial parts of the Patriot Act is the National Security Letter. These letters had existed before, but they were limited to use on foreign powers and they were voluntary. In 1993, the National Security Letters were amended so that they could be used on people who were not directly under investigation (National Security Letter). Now, with the USA PATRIOT Act, the FBI is allowed to search telephone, email, and financial records without a court order. This means that an FBI Agent needs no probably cause or judicial oversight for this action. The Letter could also include a gag order, which prohibits the recipient from even saying he was subject to such a letter. The letters are issued by FBI Field Supervisors, and receive no review from the Justice Department or Congress. In 2005, over 30,000 National Security Letters were issued, a hundredfold increase since their inception (Gellman A01).
The Supreme Court has also had a major effect upon citizen’s rights. In Schenck v. United States (1919) the Supreme Court ruled that freedom of Speech can be limited during wartime, to preserve the country (Landmark Supreme Court Decisions). This allows the government to restrict the citizen’s right of free speech if the government feels the integrity of the country is in jeopardy. In Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) The Supreme Court ruled that officials could not remove books from school libraries because they disagreed with the content of the books’ messages (Landmark Supreme Court Decisions). This was a victory for civil liberties because it allowed people to still learn from books, even if an establishment disagreed with them.
In Texas v. Johnson (1989) The Supreme Court ruled flag burning as political protest is a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment (Landmark Supreme Court Decisions). This protects the rights of citizens to protest against government actions that they see as illegitimate or illegal.
The rights of citizens have gone increased and decreased over the past centuries. As the world changes, so too do civil liberties and the government’s responsibility to protect the citizen. Thankfully, the U.S. has its system of checks and balances to protect the citizen.
What Still Needs to be Done?
The rights of citizens have undoubtedly declined over preceding decades. During the Cold War, domestic and foreign spying was the norm in order to combat what was perceived as an ultimate evil. The Western world felt that in order to protect themselves, it might be necessary to give up some of their freedoms for greater security. Now though, as people begin to recover their lost rights after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, we are confronted again with this specter of evil. In the rise of militant Islam, we again find ourselves facing a new enemy, one more elusive than ever before. The U.S. government, in its prosecution of the war, has also degraded our civil liberties in the name of catching our enemies.
The world of the twenty-first century is one of the most open and liberal societies ever to exist. With widespread access to cellular phones, satellites, and the internet, we now have the ability to communicate across the globe in a matter of seconds. The problem with such an open society is that it lies open to dangerous and deceitful attacks by those who would exploit it. Attacks can now be planned without ever setting foot near your target or seeing your counterparts. This makes it much harder for a government to foil plots that could be disastrous to the country. Governments have to balance the issue of allowing their citizens the full benefits of this new technology, or whether to crack down for the sake of security. If a government allows such liberty, it risks its own security in the face of those that would take advantage of it. If a government bans new technology, then it risks upsetting and alienating its own people, and may even force them to support your enemies.
In this current age, we have many rights that are believe to be undeniable and sacred to us. Unfortunately, many have not seen that we have slowly been having our rights taken away from us. The PATRIOT Act has given the FBI the ability to spy on and arrest citizens at the slightest provocation, with no judicial oversight whatsoever.(USA PATRIOT ACT) Unless something is done, then it is probable that the future will only bring the further decline of citizen’s rights. Possibly the worst part is the prospect of our rights being even further degraded by a willing populace, just wanting to get the war over with. This is not some event that could happen far in the future, this is happening now.
Citizen’s Rights can be saved though. Each and every citizen should contribute to the republic, and to its core principles. Right now, the American public slumbers while we are at war. As an anonymous person wrote, “America is not at war, the military is at war. America is at the mall.” This sums up the attitude of the American public to politics too. Too many voters are afflicted with chronic apathy at what this country does. As long as it does not hurt them immediately, many Americas could care less what happens outside their own town. This has to change! Without the average man voting, extremists from both wings can gain control of the government. If you don’t agree with any popular candidate’s message, find a lesser known one or even run yourself. America was founded on the common man, and the right of everyman to life, liberty, and happiness. If the current situation continues, then America may soon find itself deprived of all three.
The world finds itself at a crossroads in the 21st century. In America, our rights are being degraded in order to combat terrorism. In the Middle East, women are forced into quasi-slavery, and minorities are persecuted publicly, even with the support of the government. America and the world will soon to wake up and find out how they are going to treat their citizen’s. Will they be slaves? Will they exist at the pleasure of the state? Or will they be treated as equal citizens, worthy of respect and emulation?
Citizens Rights
Reply With Quote
