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ACLU of Illinois Executive Director Colleen Connell Responds to President Bush's Second Inauguration Address

Freedom and Liberty - Promises and Words
By Colleen K. Connell*
Within hours of George W. Bush's second inaugural address, a debate developed about precisely what the President intended by his call to "stand" with those across the globe who seek "freedom" and "liberty." From the analysis on television, there seemed to be a wide range of views. Some thought it "vague" and "high-minded" at a time when American troops are struggling to assure stability - let alone liberty - in Iraq. Others thought the speech was "bold" and sent a strong signal to both American allies and foes that nations that did not evince democratic values (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia or Iran) that American policy would no longer forgive such behavior.

The debate over the meaning of the President�s words continued with high-ranking Presidential aides suggesting the address reflected a restatement and not a change in foreign policy. The confusion and subsequent attempts at clarification by the Administration obscured a more critical problem with the President�s description of liberty: namely, that the President seems not to grasp the full meaning of that very concept.

The President's inauguration address exposes a limited view of liberty, a view that reveals itself in the policies that this President has pursued domestically. Mr. Bush speaks of liberty and freedom only as collective, societal goals, aimed at throwing off totalitarian regimes that oppress through the use of armed force. Too many nations still have repressive governments that unduly limit basic daily activities of the individuals who make up the collective body politic.

Advancing "liberty" in our nation, however, is not limited to guarding against overt authoritarian governmental tactics. America's Founders recognized that the promise of liberty is not a collective guarantee; it is a statement of individual freedom requiring careful nurturing and constant, vigilant protection. The Founders' commitment to individual liberty is embodied in the Bill of Rights - a set of impenetrable individual rights the Framers concluded need specific protection even in a system of government that imposed strict checks and balances against abusive government power. Madison, Jefferson and Mason recognized that, even in a free, open democratic system of government, true "liberty" for citizens could be advanced only through a set of rights reserved to each person.

As President Bush charts his own course for freedom and liberty across the globe, three domestic policies should be pursued if he truly wishes to ensure the historic promise of liberty here in the United States.
  • President Bush should order his new Attorney General to cease the Justice Department's aggressive defense of a federal abortion ban, already found unconstitutional, that would threaten criminal penalties for physicians who treat women facing difficult pregnancies. The Bush Justice Department under John Ashcroft vigorously defended this law, which three federal district courts stuck down for failing to protect women�s lives and health. All three courts determined that enforcement of the law could mean that physicians might not be able to use the safest, most medically appropriate practices in treating their patients lest they risk a potential prison sentence. Real respect for liberty means that we leave decisions about medical procedures to doctors and their patients, not to activists and advocates in Washington.

  • In further support of individual liberty, the President should urge the Republican leaders of Congress to end their annual pursuit of a constitutional amendment that would allow states and the federal government to criminalize the desecration of the American flag by those who would undertake such an act in protest of government policy. Most Americans honor and respect our flag. Most of us can't imagine that someone would feel compelled to express him or herself by burning a flag. Still, a nation that has a two-century history of vigorous, sometime volatile, political debate can tolerate a few individuals without the need to eliminate the First Amendment's constitutional protection of free speech and free expression even when the speech or expression is something that many find outrageous or disagreeable.

  • Finally, the President could defend Americans' basic rights to practice their own religion and associate with friends free from government surveillance by joining with those seeking to make alterations to the USA PATRIOT Act to keep our nation both safe and free. At a minimum, the Patriot Act should be amended to require some minimal evidence of criminal behavior before the government launches an intrusive search of individuals' intimate records. As the law stands today, law enforcement officials can capture someone's business records, medical records, library and bookstore records, banking records, educational records and even their DNA without any evidence that the person whose records are being sought has been involved in any crime, let alone terrorism.
The President noted in his inauguration address that advancing liberty and freedom was the "honorable achievement of our fathers." The achievement of liberty in our nation is not reflected simply in our ability to hold free elections and select representatives to make public policy decisions. The larger achievement has been that we respect and protect the capacity for each person in this nation to live without undue governmental interference. Whether or not this is the standard of individual freedom we should set for the entire world, it is the goal we must pursue in the United States.

Protecting individual liberty in our nation is not an option; it is the very promise of the Constitution of the United States that the President swore to "uphold and defend" just before he delivered his address. There should be no need for clarification on that promise.

* Colleen K. Connell, a lawyer, is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois

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