CIVIL LIBERTIES and NATIONAL SECURITY TIMELINE

Selected Events

Early Years of the Republic

1791 - The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, provides legal protection of basic civil rights. These ten amendments were collectively ratified as the Bill of Rights two years after the signing of the Federal Constitution. Civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, include, but are not limited to, the freedoms of speech, of the press, of religion, and of peaceful assembly. The Constitution provides citizens the protection of due process and protection from unreasonable search and seizure. It also affords citizens the right to a speedy and public jury trail and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

1798 - The Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws, passed by a Federalist dominated Congress, were created in part to curb the success of Jefferson's Republican Party and to silence government critics. The Alien Act gave the President the power to imprison or deport any aliens suspected of subversion. The Sedition Act, in its wide-ranging restrictions of spoken and/or written criticism, made it a crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment, to bring "false, scandalous and malicious" accusations against the government, Congress or the President. This sedition law significantly reduced the First Amendment protections of speech and the press. Prominent Jeffersonian journalists were tried and some were convicted in sedition trials. The Alien and Sedition Acts galvanized Republican opposition to the Adams administration and the Federalists. The Kentucky (written by Jefferson) and Virginia (written by Madison) resolutions were created in reaction to these laws.

Civil War

First Amendment protections were violated. Censorship was imposed on telegraphic communications. Newspapers critical of the President and his administration were banned from the mail.

1861 - Lincoln, claiming the right under presidential war powers, suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus for those accused of "disloyal activities." Many suspected Confederate sympathizers were arrested and held without formal charges. The writ of Habeas Corpus, an important civil liberties safeguard and cornerstone of English common law, requires the government to provide to a court the reasons why a prisoner is being held.

In an opinion in the John Merryman case written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Lincoln's action was found to be in violation of the Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that Article 1, Section 9, of the U.S. Constitution gave the power to suspend Habeas Corpus only to Congress. Congress belatedly ratified Lincoln's suspension of the writ in 1863.

1862 - Lincoln established military tribunals. Citizens found "discouraging volunteer enlistment, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practices affording aid and comfort to the rebels" could be tried and punished under military law. Hundreds of civilians were arrested and tried by the military tribunals. Thus they were denied the constitutional protection of the right to a trial by jury in a civilian court.

World War I, Palmer Raids and Red Scare

1917 - With the entry of the United States into World War I, the government became increasingly concerned about rising anti-war sentiment and a growing labor and radical movement. Organized labor was lobbying for higher wages, the right to collective bargaining as well as reduced work hours. Inflation was high and workers were striking. By order of the War Department army officers were authorized to repress any activities committed under the vague umbrella of "seditious intent." The government stepped up its campaign against left-wing activists and foreign immigrants. There were mass arrests. By order of the Postmaster General, magazines, including Emma Goldman's Mother Earth and Max Eastman's The Masses, expressing anti-war sentiment were refused access to the mail. Under the law the Postmaster General was given the ability to declare "unmailable", any material that in his opinion violated the law. The Espionage Act passed in 1917 established stiff fines and hefty prison terms for anyone found encouraging disloyalty or obstructing the draft.

1918 - The Sedition Act, a further refinement of the Espionage Act, was passed. This wide-ranging law made it illegal to criticize the government or hamper the war effort in almost any manner. Thus many labor activists, dissidents and radicals became the targets of government prosecutors. To be a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union put one at the risk of deportation. Anyone found violating these acts could be fined up to $10,000 and/or sentenced up to twenty years in jail. Rose Pastor Stokes, Eugene V. Debs, Victor Berger and Emma Goldman were notable individuals that were arrested and charged under these laws.

1919 - The Red Scare and the Palmer Raids. The Bolshevik Revolution and fear of communism that spread in its wake resulted in the development and use of aggressive tactics against suspected anarchists and communists. Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, assisted by J. Edgar Hoover, then a young lawyer, conducted a series of raids against groups suspected of communist sympathies. Groups such as The Union of Russian Workers and International Workers of the World (IWW) were targeted. In one raid more than one hundred Russian-born aliens were arrested and then deported to the Soviet Union. In a later raid several hundred people in over thirty cities were arrested. Many were deported. It is estimated that by the time the "Palmer Raids" were completed several thousand had been arrested and several hundred had been deported.

World War II, Japanese Internment

1942 - Executive Order 9066. On February 19, 1942, just two months after the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order would culminate in the forced removal of ethnic Japanese from West Coast communities and their subsequent incarceration in 10 internment camps. More than 50% of those relocated and held in the camps were U. S. citizens. The genesis of this order was the desire to protect sensitive military and manufacturing sites from sabotage or attack.

In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, the governor of Hawaii placed the islands under martial law. It wasn't until three years later, by presidential order, that military rule in Hawaii was revoked.

In 1980 the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) was established. In its 1983 report, JUSTICE DENIED, the commission concluded that the incarceration of Japanese Americans was not a justified necessity. The CWRIC issued formal recommendations to Congress regarding redress payments. In 1988 President Reagan signed into law H.R. 442 which provides for, among other provisions, individual payments of $20,000 to each surviving internment inmate and the establishment of a $1.25 billion education fund.

HUAC, McCarthyism and Cold War

1945 - HUAC. In January 1945, The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which had initially been established in 1937 under the chairmanship of Martin Dies, was made a standing committee in the House. The committee's mission was the investigation of un-American and subversive activities. The climate of the Cold War with its continuous and growing tensions between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union fed the Red Scare anxiety and had many in America feeling wary and threatened. In 1947 the HUAC began a series of investigations and public hearings addressing concerns relating to the threat of espionage and the perceived communist menace.

1950 - Joseph R. McCarthy, a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, made national headlines with his dramatic announcement that the U.S. State Department was riddled with Communists. McCarthy's prominence grew as he spearheaded a relentless "take no prisoners" campaign to rid the government of suspected left wing, communist sympathizers. In 1953 McCarthy was named chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee in Investigations of Governmental Operations. He used this position to push forth his virulent anti-Communist agenda. The McCarthy investigations flamed the Red Scare hysteria and led to charges being leveled against many innocent government officials and civilians.

1954 - After the televised Army-McCarthy Hearings where the unsubstantiated nature of his accusations and his aggressive, confrontational tactics were clearly exposed to a national audience, McCarthy had a rapid fall from grace and popularity. The Senate formally censured McCarthy for his conduct.

1956 - FBI Launches Counter Intelligence Programs (COINTELPRO). COINTELPRO is the acronym for a series of covert action programs designed to expose, neutralize, disrupt and discredit domestic dissidents and political groups. Originally designed to undermine the Communist Party in the United States, COINTELPRO activities quickly expanded to include the Ku Klux Klan, anti-Vietnam war demonstrators and campus protesters, civil rights activists, the "New Left" and other domestic groups. COINTELPRO techniques, which were adopted from wartime counterintelligence operations, went beyond the collection of intelligence to undercover activities that were designed to disrupt and create dissension within the targeted groups. Wiretapping, break-ins, bugging of homes and offices, and the use of informants were just some of the techniques employed.

1973 - Church Committee. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, The Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities began a comprehensive investigation of government intelligence agencies. The committee, more commonly know as the Church Committee after its chairman Idaho Democrat Frank Church, collected testimony from hundreds of people and voluminous files from the FBI, CIA, NSA, and IRS among other federal agencies. In 1975 and 1976 The Church Committee published 14 detailed reports on its findings. In regard to the FBI, the Committee found substantial abuses. The report noted that over several years the agency had operated a broad campaign of disruptive activities and covert investigations of political activist groups. The targeted groups were not engaged in illegal conduct. A series of reforms intended to prevent similar abuses were initiated as a result of the Church Committee's work.

1981 - CISPES investigation. In 1981, concerned that the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) was an agent of a foreign power, the Justice Department directed the FBI to conduct an investigation of the organization. CISPES, a U.S. based organization, was predominately composed of U.S. citizens, many were college students. The group supported the Frente Democratica Revolucionario (FDR), the El Salvador rebel political organization. CISPES opposed U. S. aid to the El Salvador military. CISPES provided funding for humanitarian projects in El Salvador. The FBI in its investigation determined that CISPES was a domestic organization and lawfully engaged in nonviolent political activity. In 1983, ignoring its own findings, the FBI opened an international terrorism investigation of CISPES. The investigation continued for two years and generated several "spin-off" investigations of other groups. No illegal activity was identified in either CISPES or any of its related investigations.

9/11 and Beyond

October 26, 2001 - USA PATRIOT Act signed.

November 2001, Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen captured on a battlefield in Afghanistan, is designated an "enemy combatant." As such he can be held indefinitely without access to counsel or formal charges.

November 13, 2001 - President Bush authorizes the establishment of military tribunals to try suspected terrorists.

January 11, 2002 - 110 prisoners are detained by the US Defense Department at Camp X-ray in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. They are later transferred to Camp Delta. Hundreds of other detainees are also being held at Guantánamo Bay's Camp Delta.

May - June 2002 - American citizen Jose Padilla is detained at Chicago's O'Hare airport as a material witness for the 9/11 investigations. President Bush subsequently declared Padilla an "enemy combatant."

May 30, 2002 - Attorney General John Ashcroft announces new FBI guidelines. The guidelines are available on the Internet at www.usdoj.govp

January 2003 - Hamdi loses his appeal. The court declares that the President can designate a U.S. citizen an "enemy combatant" if the President believes the person's behavior constitutes a threat to national security.

July 2003 - President Bush announces that six of Camp Delta's 650 prisoners are eligible be tried by military tribunal.

December 2003 - Padilla wins a court victory. The court orders that Padilla, who has been held since June of 2002 on his suspected connection to a "dirty bomb, be charged, declared a material witness or released within thirty days.

Feb 13, 2004 - Each Camp Delta detainee will receive an annual status review. A three-member panel will decide who is eligible for release.

April 20,2004 - The Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments on the status of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The Supreme Court will consider whether the United States government can hold foreign nationals as "enemy combatants" without hearings and without charges.

April 28, 2004 - The Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments in both the Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla cases.