Basic civil liberties

Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

At the request of several senators, Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Thursday agreed to delay a proposed policy that would allow the FBI broad power to investigate potential terrorism cases.

Under current policy, FBI agents need a specific reason to investigate citizens and legal residents, but under the proposed regulation, they would barely need a hint of suspicion. The Associated Press reported the proposed policy would allow investigations based on a person’s travel to an area known for terrorism or potentially even on his ethnicity or race.

Mukasey has said investigations will not be based solely on race, ethnicity or religion and has said they would not be illegal criminal profiling. But several senators have rightly raised concerns about civil liberties.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the ranking Republican on the panel, wrote a letter Monday requesting a delay and called for congressional hearings. The senators said the new policy raised “potential implications for civil liberties.”

A group of Democratic senators followed suit Wednesday, adding that the FBI could investigate citizens “without any basis for suspicion.” The policy would also allow the FBI to share information with a wide network of law enforcement agencies.

Mukasey agreed to delay the policy until after FBI Director Robert Mueller appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month.

Mukasey should address the senators’ concerns and change the rules because, as proposed, they would be an affront to the Constitution.

It is important that the FBI have the tools it needs to fight the war on terrorism, but it should not have free rein to walk over innocent Americans’ civil liberties.