Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5B • Thursday, April 1, 2004
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Supreme Court must protect Fifth Amendment right from sel
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MIKE
WALTERS
n March 22, the U.S.
Supreme Court heard
arguments for the case
a Nevada cattle rancher
o was arrested after refus-
igto reveal his name or
low identification to a
eputy. The rancher, Larry
iibel, refused the deputy’s
requests for identification,
one point saying, “If you've got something,
ike me to jail,” and “I don't want to talk. I've
one nothing. I've broken no laws.”
Was he being unreasonable? If he didn’t
reak any laws, why should he mind giving his
ame? His answer, and the issue at hand, lies in
le Fifth Amendment, which declares that “No .
rson shall be compelled ... in any criminal
to be a witness against himself.” Being
jquired to show your ID infringes on your
in tocn ght of protection from self-incrimination.
“A name itself is a neutral fact that is neither
icriminating nor an undue invasion of priva-
Conrad Hafen, Nevada’s senior deputy
Itorney general, told the court. While that may
avebeen true in the early days of America
Classol! ihen automobiles were the pinnacle of police
crime-fighting technology, the use of net
worked computers in police cars allows police
to now pull up a person’s criminal history with
only their name.
“A name is now no longer a simple identifi
er; it is the key to a vast, cross-referenced sys
tem of public and private databases, which lay
bare the most intimate features of an individ
ual's life,” said Marc Rotenberg, president of
the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Because giving a name may mean surrendering
to a police officer and subsequent arrest if a
person has committed a crime, a person’s right
to refuse to identify himself logically falls into
the constitutionally-protected right protecting
people from self-incrimination.
Should the Supreme Court fail to uphold the
Constitution, requiring all citizens to provide
identification to any police officer who asks for
it would set a legal precedent that could lead to
a slippery slope of bad legal rulings. It's not a
large leap from demanding that citizens show
their IDs to police officers to having to carry
around papers to move between states or cities.
While it's true that such strict identification
measures might decrease crime by limiting the
movement of criminals, it hassles the innocent
individual and worse — infringes on rights that
have been granted Americans since the birth of
our nation. In a country that values its freedom,
no one wants to see us reduced to this state.
The first of the Miranda rights, which police
officers read a suspect upon arrest, is the right
to remain silent. It’s clear from centuries of
legal history declaring that even when a person
has committed a crime, it is wrong for anyone
to force him to implicate himself. While any
law-abiding citizen would probably not have a
problem providing his name when no harm
may come to them, the issue is not what one
should do, but what one has the right to do, and
this must be recognized. As such, the Supreme
Court must rule in favor of Hiibel and of the
Fifth Amendment.
Mike Walters is a senior
psychology major.
Graphic by Paul Wilson.
Us against the world
nti-Americanism is not a new trend; it existed for years prior to Iraqi war
ith the presidential elections only a
few months away, candidates have
already begun the negative attacks
at often plague high-level races. In fact,
mocratic candidate John Kerry began his
on President . Bush before he offi-
been given the party’s nomination.
leDemocrats showed early on that one of the
focuses of their criticism of Bush would
his actions throughout the Iraq dilemma and
strained relations with foreign partners that
JOSH
LANGSTON
war and its aftermath have supposedly caused. The Democrats
to note, in their politically spun reality, that the anti-American
entiment from which the world currently suffers is no new phe-
omenon. It is, in fact, something that has been thriving for
ecades, including the decade of Democratic dominance in the
Ws under former President Clinton.
At best, the war with Iraq may have amplified the voices of
lose who despise America and provided fodder to a reactionary
lediathat pounces on anything that will elicit panic in the average
merican. But the history of anti-Americanism goes back decades.
Many Third World countries that seem to be deeply anti-
iinerican, according to Western pollsters, express these emotions
ecause of continuing struggles. Their feelings, which contribute
lost to the falsity of the currently understood anti-Americanism,
ipresent a dichotomy of imitation and hatred which perfectly
^^^escribe the mindset of someone who is jealously pursuing some-
another has firm grasp of. Examples of this include the cler-
■ who seeks to stir fundamentalist hatred of the United States in
■rab countries but has sent all four of his children to be educated
■ the United States.
I
Furthermore, the use of anti-Americanism as a scapegoat for
regional troubles and blaming American influence for the decline
of fundamental Islamic morality and the economy in many Arab
countries perfectly describes what A&M professor Chuck
Hermann called the “failed state” problem. A failed state is one
in which the economic and social structures are
in disrepair and whose leaders oftentimes find
it easier to divert blame away from their cor
rupt, dictatorial regimes. Who better to blame
than the country that is the poster-child for suc
cesses in those same areas, the United States,
and is an easy target because of its involvement
in world affairs?
But wait, one might ask, what about every
one else who hates the United States? What
about the French and Germans? Much of the
anti-Americanism mentality there stems from
the incredible success and subsequent global
power that have risen out of the U.S. post-World
War II economy. The triumph of the American
economic model over others, such as in France, marked the begin
nings of deeply rooted anti-Americanism as an everyday part of
French society, notes Dr. Fouad Ajami in a 2003 commentary in
U.S. News and World Report. Because many Europeans “view the
United States as having almost unlimited power, it’s easy to think
that almost anything in the world is somehow connected with the
use of it,” Craig Kennedy observes in a recent Nixon Center
report on European anti-Americanism.
Many college students, remembering childhood days that are
not far gone, may be able to relate Europe's feeling toward the
United States over the past 50 years to a high-stakes game of
The bottom line in
the debate of U.S. image
and actions woridwide is
that we cannot please
everyone all the time.
“King of the Mountain” where everyone is trying to bring down
the person at the top.
The bottom line in the debate of U.S. image and actions
worldwide is that America cannot please everyone all of the time.
If the Bush administration and the ones preceding it would have
taken actions to please every foreign critic of
our decisions, we would have ended up allow
ing the terror problem to go unchecked and left
a murdering dictator in power to oppress his
people as he pleased.
Many would choose to use the divisive issue
of anti-Americanism to create public sentiment
against Bush, saying that his foreign policy fol
lies have brought about these negative emotions
in the last four years. While Bush’s handling of
the Iraqi war did not earn the worldwide enthu
siastic two thumbs up that members of his own
party hoped for, he is no more responsible for
foreigners’ feelings toward the United States
than are the previous presidents or major lead
ers of industry and business. The problem existed long before, as
evidenced by the Sept. 11 attacks, and will continue as long as the
United States is in the driver's seat of the world political arena.
Josh Langston is a senior
biology major.
MAIL CALL
Inappropriate drawing
detracted from article
In response to Ivan Flores' March 31
raphic:
tion on a suspect, they get thousands of
calls. Getting information from people
who don’t like you adds to the difficulty.
But you know what? They are doing
their best to protect you they do it every
day. Why not just dwell on that and be
sinful lifestyle shouldn’t you protest
them all?
1 can’t stay silent when groups preach
against one sin when there are many,
when demonstrators highlight an unpopu
lar sin but ignore popular ones, and espe-
Demonstration was a
thinly disguised attack
The demonstration held on campus
your parents for being straight.” How is
this promoting the rights and liberties of
heterosexuals? The clear fact is that it is
not. Homosexuals do not condemn het
erosexuality in their demonstrations,
and the opposite should not occur
soph"
Jgyat
Does The Battalion really think it a
md journalistic practice to append to
rious and provocative articles unreal
istic and misogynistic drawings of
'omen? I can’t decide which is bigger
the bust on the cartoon or the lack of
itegrity of those who allowed the image
go to print.
Mathew A. Foust
Class of 2004
lush did not see the
■11 attacks coming
In response to Collins Ezeanyim March
1 column:
I don’t know how anyone in this coun-
ycan honestly say that President Bush
lew the Sept. 11 attacks were going to
appen and did nothing to prevent them,
B jst looking at it from a fellow human
aing standpoint not to mention our
resident, who would not sit back and
it it happen. I don’t claim to know a lot
f the how information through the CIA
\ or what is found. But I do know
|iatit's like picking a needle from a hdy
ck, it is practically impossible to act
every source received and respond
cordingly. Just look at any investiga-
m by the FBI asking for any informa-
thankful, rather than criticizing
things happen to go wrong.
when
Chris Gillard
Class of 2005
Protesters should not
pick and choose sins
I often wonder why on a campus filled
with so many Christians that I frequently
hear the word of God used to promote
political gains and hate against a certain
group rather than the promotion of
God’s message of love and acceptance.
I wonder why the homosexual lifestyle is
singled out when lifestyles that include
alcohol, gambling and sexual promiscu
ity tower in membership. Why don't I
hear protest against the evils of getting
drunk, or sleeping around?
Can a lifestyle of alcohol, gambling or
sexual promiscuity somehow be more
justified and less sinful when repen
tance is given on Sunday? Even when an
observer may see these Sunday pleas
as merely half-hearted, hangover spo
ken words. Shouldn’t a Christian look to
change this corrupt lifestyle? If not,
doesn’t this make a lifestyle of any sin,
whether it be homosexuality to one filled
with alcohol, gambling or sexual promis
cuity, of the same weight and of need of
the same protest? So if you protest one
dally when a group chooses to use the
holiness of the Bible to make a political
statement that displays hate not love and
also glorifies themselves not God.
Francis Deal
Class of 2007
Young Conservatives’
platform is senseless
Yesterday I received a flier from some
student members of the Young
Conservatives of Texas near the
Memorial Student Center. It listed the
“conservative values” which the organi
zation ad hears to.
The fourth bullet: “Free Market Economy
(Keep what you earn, NO welfare).”
Bullet number five: “Federalism
(strong local government responsive to
the people).”
These two values, while they may be
great ideas, clearly contradict each other.
Either the YCT needs to print enough infor
mation so that one can understand how
you’re going to run a local government with
outpaying taxes, or the group should stop
passing out flyers that make them sound
like illiterate bumpkins.
Rick Palmer
Class of 2005
Tuesday and Wednesday is perhaps one
of the most significant reasons Texas
A&M is considered so intolerant and
downright unfriendly. In Tuesday's article
regarding the demonstration, proud het
erosexual Bill Sebring was quoted as say
ing that the heterosexual demonstrators
“were not bashing homosexuals." That is
all the YCT was doing. As a white, het
erosexual males, they are not being
denied any rights or civil liberties;
indeed, they are at the top of the civil lib
erties food chain.
By promoting their side, the demon
strators simply denounced homosexual
ity with phrases such as “Adam and
Eve, not Adam and Steve” and “Thank
either. It is time for these intolerant
demonstrators of “straight pride" to end
their attack on homosexuality.
Allison Damron
Class of2005
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