The First Amendment and S.1959

You may think S.1959, The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism and Prevention Act – the “thought crime bill” – has been forgotten at Time Goes By. Not so.

Passed by the House of Representatives last October in a 404 to 6 vote, the bill moved on to the Senate where it has been sitting in the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs chaired by Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut with Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who sponsored it, as the ranking minority member. They have not been idle.

Five hearings have been held during the 110th Congress and on 8 May, the Committee issued a report titled, Violent Islamist Extremism, The Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat [pdf] covering, as the introduction states:

“…how violent Islamist terrorist groups like al-Qaeda are using the internet to enlist followers into the global violent Islamist terrorist movement and to increase support for the movement, ranging from ideological support, to fundraising, and ultimately to planning and executing terrorist attacks.”

What the 24-page report boils down to, basically, is: “Oh, dear. Jihadists are on the internet. We must stop them,” which further extends the frightening implications of S.1959 that, should it become law, could gut the First Amendment.

A response to the Committee report from the ACLU correctly notes:

“Our concern is that this focus on the internet could be a precursor to proposals to censor and regulate speech on the internet. Indeed, some policy makers have advocated shutting down objectionable websites…

“Moreover, testimony at the hearings indicates that such an approach not only fails muster under speech principles, but is unlikely to be effective…

“Lt. Col. Joseph Felter, PhD, Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West :Poiint, testified to the Senate Committee that ‘Attempts to shut down websites have proven as fruitless as a game of whack-a-mole.’”

Nevertheless, Committee hearings and reports will continue. Meanwhile, however, the United States doesn’t appear to need any new legislation to stifle free speech and the First Amendment.

In 2005, Veterans Administration nurse, Laura Berg, sent a letter to a local Albuquerque weekly, The Alibi, criticizing the bungled rescue operations following Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War. Soon, her office computer was seized, her boss reported her action to the FBI and the VA began an investigation into possible charges of sedition against Ms. Berg. All for nothing more than writing a letter to the editor critical of the federal government.

With the help of the ACLU and New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, the investigations were dropped and on 28 April 2008, Ms. Berg received the Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award from the PEN American Center which “honors a United States citizen or resident who has fought courageously to safeguard the First Amendment’s right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word.”

About the award, PEN Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems stated:

“Berg published her letter in perhaps our darkest hour for freedom of expression. Around the same time, members of Congress and the administration were openly encouraging the prosecution of journalists reporting on illegal administration programs under the Espionage Act.

“While we believe that the pendulum has swung back from that extreme, Berg’s experience is a reminder of how quickly our most basic values can fall victim to exaggerated fears for national security. And her story is a reminder of how much one individual voice can mean in such a time.”

Which is why Time Goes By will continue to keep its eye on the thought crime bill, S.1959, and the questionable motives of The Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs related to the bill.

(Past stories about S.1959 from TGB and other media can be found here.)

[Postings at The Elder Storytelling Place will return on Monday.]