Free Speech and National Security

1231 Words3 Pages

There was an article saying that in 2007, the government subpoenaed amazon.com to obtain book purchasing records of amazons customers. Judge Stephen Crocker said that, “ the subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals with out their knowledge or permission. It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else.” This article brings into question the constitutional rights of the 4th and 9th amendments, of warrants and privacy of citizens: should the government be able to look into private records showing purchases and other private businesses of citizens without a warrant? Adams, Mike. "Big brother u.s. government subpoenaed amazon.com to obtain book purchasing records of customers." Web. A recent article says that trijicon, inc. a company that makes combat rifle sights for the u.s. military will be sending kits to the military to remove the bible inscriptions that were put on to the gear. The company originally melted these bible inscriptions into the metal, but has decided to remove them when the rifle sights raised concern in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think that this article is an issue about the first amendment, establishment clause, and free exercise clause: should a company that is providing products to the government be able to display religious texts upon its products? Nbc news. "Defense contractor to remove bible references." Web. A recent article says that in Minneapolis, a man put up posters near a mosque and a Somali-owned store, showing anti-Muslim images. Two Minnesota prosecutors have decided not to press charges, becau... ... middle of paper ... ... of surveillance by saying they were surveying only certain people, when it was really a much broader spectrum. Argument 3- Yes, the government brings in tons of information every second about people in the country, but does that really help them? Well obviously more information isn’t as useful as the important information. This is evident when on 9-11, they had tons of evidence and warning that a terrorist attack was going down in the country, but there was so much information coming, that they weren’t able to sift through it to find the important information. So it obviously isn’t as effective as you would think it would be. Conclusion- if you are going to do something, then at least limit it to what you said you would do. The government clearly did not do this by spying on its citizens, therefore bring into question the trust its citizens can bestow in it.

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