WASHINGTON (PNN) - September 7, 2011 - Surveillance cameras in public places? Sure. Body scans at airports? Maybe. Snooping in personal email? Not so fast.
The same Americans who are increasingly splashing their personal lives across Facebook and Twitter trace a meandering path when asked where the government should draw the line between protecting civil liberties and pursuing terrorism.
Ten years after the events of September 11, 2001 led to amped-up government surveillance efforts, two-thirds of Americans say it's fitting to sacrifice some privacy and freedoms in the fight against terrorism, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
A slim majority - 54% - says that if they had to choose between preserving their rights and freedoms and protecting people from terrorists, they'd come down on the side of civil liberties. The public is particularly protective of the privacy of U.S. citizens, voicing sharp opposition to government surveillance of Americans' emails and phone calls.
The poll found that about half of those surveyed felt they have indeed lost some of their own personal freedoms to fight terrorism. Was it worth it? Close to half of those who thought they'd lost freedoms doubted it was necessary.
Overall, six in 10 say the government is doing enough to protect Americans' rights and freedoms as it fights terrorism. But people may not even be aware of what they've sacrificed. The poll found that Americans have different comfort levels with various scenarios in pursuing potential terrorist activity. For example:
- 71% favor surveillance cameras in public places to watch for suspicious activity.
- 58% favor random searches involving full-body scans or pat downs of airplane passengers.
- 55% favor government analysis of financial transactions processed by U.S. banks without a warrant.
- 47% favor requiring all people in the U.S. to carry a national ID card and provide it to authorities upon demand.
- 35% favor racial or ethnic profiling to decide who should get tougher screening at airports.
The poll turned up sharp divisions among Americans on whether torture - banned by the government - should have any place in combating terrorism.
Fifty-two percent said torture could be justified at least sometimes to obtain information about terrorist activity. Forty-six percent said it could never or only rarely be justified.
Ed. Note: My God-given rights are not subject to a vote of the people. If 99% of the people think it is okay to give up freedom for security, that does not give lawful authority to the government to infringe on one iota of my liberty! Doing so is an Act of War, and the justification for armed Revolution!