Also remember that the people who our government wish to interview are not US citizens, they are guests as I understand it. -----Original Message----- From: Ron_Deming@private [mailto:Ron_Deming@private] Sent: Monday, November 26, 2001 4:25 PM To: webb1973 Cc: crime@private; Crispin Cowan; 'webb1973'; owner-crime./var/spool/majordomo/lists/crime@private; Busby, Richard Subject: RE: CRIME Kudos to Acting Police Chief Andrew Kirkland Don't be overly impressed by this statute. It's being widely quoted, and used as justification for Mr. Kirkland's response to the FBI's request for assistance. I would suggest we are looking at a case of selective (and silly) enforcement. If the statute were consistently applied as it's being applied in this case, how would a police officer be able to ask neighbors of a person whose house has been burglarized if the neighbors saw the burglar, or had any other information that might be useful? Of course it's legal for police to request an interview with private citizens about information they may have as it relates to a crime that has been committed. There is no obligation for the citizen to answer the questions, or even to grant the interview. There is no "erosion" of rights here. It's quite distressing to see all this discussion of "rights", with little or no parallel discussion of one's duty, as a citizen, to help with this kind of investigation. Everyone seems eager to claim and protect individual rights ( I suspect this is human nature - or, at least American human nature), without acknowledging our responsibility, in the face of external threat, to close ranks, and defer to the immediate needs of the nation. The Bill of Rights is vitally important to us, but so is common sense. I don't see any threat to the Fourth Amendment that would justify all this hand-wringing. While we are busy arguing fine points of law and philosophy, there are people (people, by the way, who don't concern themselves with anyone's right to Life, Liberty, etc.) working diligently to destroy us and our way of life. I'm a lot more worried about them than I am of our government's motives in this matter. I think we need to deal with the problem at hand, and worry about the niceties later. A newspaper columnist summed it up pretty well recently: "A rattlesnake in the living room tends to end all discussion of animal rights." Best Regards, Ron Deming "webb1973" <webb1973@private> Sent by: To: "Busby, Richard" <richardb@private>, "'webb1973'" owner-crime@/var/spool/majordomo/l <MSN/webb1973@private>, "Crispin Cowan" <crispin@private>, ists/crime <crime@private> cc: Subject: RE: CRIME Kudos to Acting Police Chief Andrew Kirkland 11/23/01 05:35 PM Good point. You added an element of which I was not aware. What is the Or. Statute of which you speak? I was unaware that there was a statutory restriction since I'm not an Oregon resident. With a statute as restrictive as you describe, and if local law enforcement is prohibited from participating in such interviews (questions), then I have no quarrell or criticism of the Chief. Thanks for pointing that out. Also, you hit the nail on the head about appreciation of having the freedom to debate these issues. The country is great because of our personal freedoms and our inherent right to disagree. But there I go again, reverting to patriotic jingoism. Seems I have the nasty habit of doing that. My only other comment is that we must be careful not to place labels on those with whom we disagree, rather than engage them in sincere discourse. Arrogance weakens argument and honest discourse suffers. Thanks for letting me know about the statute, it makes a difference in the way I look at this issue. -----Original Message----- From: owner-crime@/var/spool/majordomo/lists/crime [mailto:owner-crime@/var/spool/majordomo/lists/crime]On Behalf Of Busby, Richard Sent: Friday, November 23, 2001 3:42 PM To: 'webb1973'; Crispin Cowan; crime@private Subject: RE: CRIME Kudos to Acting Police Chief Andrew Kirkland Doesn't anyone see the irony of even being able to have this deabte? We have freedom of speech. If we didn't we could not even have this discussion. That's what makes the country great. Each of us is entitled to our opinion. In Oregon there is also the issue of a statute that indicates that no person can be questioned unless they are suspected of a crime. Civil liberties are never taken away in big pieces, thgey are eroded. as Thomas Jefferson said "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." He was talking about the citizenry watching out for what the government is doing. The fascists in the 30's took away rights slowly and piece by piece. Look what happened there. I applaud any decision that upholds individual rights. I am deeply troubled about the 9/11 attacks and the loss of life, but that is, in my own personal opinion, absolutely no reason to take away anyone's rights. Thanks for listening. -----Original Message----- From: webb1973 [mailto:MSN/webb1973@private] Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 10:13 PM To: Crispin Cowan; crime@private Subject: RE: CRIME Kudos to Acting Police Chief Andrew Kirkland Yeah. Way to go, Chief. I'm sure the families who lost loved ones on 9-11 will enthusiastically support your politically correct decision. And, if, and when one or more of the 200 non-citizens does something to contribute to more deaths from another terrorist activity, they'll fully understand your decision not to ask questions because it was the politically correct thing to do. Isn't America great! -----Original Message----- From: owner-crime@/var/spool/majordomo/lists/crime [mailto:owner-crime@/var/spool/majordomo/lists/crime]On Behalf Of Crispin Cowan Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 11:29 AM To: crime@private Subject: CRIME Kudos to Acting Police Chief Andrew Kirkland Kudos to Acting Police Chief Andrew Kirkland for defending civil liberties http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/21/national/21PORT.html?ex=1007363873&ei=1&en =978%20a71dca117098f Note: the above URL requires free "registration". You can access the article using the user-ID/password combo of "cipherpunks/cipherpunks" or "wirex/wirex". Crispin, card-carrying member of the EFF :-) -- Crispin Cowan, Ph.D. Chief Scientist, WireX Communications, Inc. http://wirex.com Security Hardened Linux Distribution: http://immunix.org Available for purchase: http://wirex.com/Products/Immunix/purchase.html
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