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Editorial: A Minnis to society Even as hard-working legislators roll up their sleeves to tackle Oregon's progressively withering budget crisis, some lawmakers have managed to squirrel away the time to propose new laws that threaten civil liberties. Case in point: Sen. John Minnis (R-Fairview) recently proposed SB 742 that would create the crime of terrorism, to be punishable by life imprisonment, and no shot at parole until 25 years had been served. Under the definition of the bill, a person commits terrorism if a single individual plans or participates in any act intended "by at least one of its participants (to) disrupt commerce or the transportation systems" or the "educational or governmental institutions" of Oregon. Civil rights activists are already fearful of this bill's implications. Local peace activist Suzi Aufderheid said she was working on mobilizing as many people as possible to get the bill killed in committee. "Anyone practicing their first-amendment rights is in danger of being called a terrorist," Aufderheid noted. "Even the women in white are in danger. These are everybody's civil rights, whether you're on the left or on the right." Never mind that most crimes - from murder to misuse of an identity card - are already on the books, and come with their own punishments. What's especially interesting about this bill is that it would also modify a section of Oregon state law (181.575) that currently enjoins law enforcement agencies from collecting or maintaining information about the political, religious or social views, associations or activities of entities ranging from individuals to corporations. Under the Minnis bill, local law enforcement could retain such information as it relates to a terrorism case as long as the case remains open. In addition, local law enforcement - currently restricted from spending resources on looking for or catching people whose only violation of the law is that they are foreign nationals living in the country in violation of federal immigration laws - would be able to do just that if the person in question is suspected of terrorism. The ACLU is already all over this one, and they should be. What's curious is that other legislators are not. Ashland's Sen. Lenn Hannon (R-Ashland) and Rep. Alan Bates (D-Ashland) said they hadn't heard of the bill. Both said the bill was unlikely to go anywhere. "The definition of terrorism is too broad for me. If you're a stupid kid and you yell 'fire' in a theater you're going to be locked up for 25 years," Bates said. " I don't think it has any legs." "Bills like this - if they're not dealt with in the next four or five weeks - probably won't get dealt with this session," Hannon said. To be sure, it is has become a different world since 9-11. One of the strengths of constitutional government - and the constitutional challenges that are likely to surface if this bill sees the light of day - is that it, and the people that support constitutional democracy, have the power to resist. Providing a supply of duct tape for Minnis wouldn't hurt however, just in case. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -