Thought Theater

Bush Wins Muzzle Award genre: Polispeak

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression awarded President Bush a Muzzle Award for his actions in the NSA surveillance program whereby the phones of U.S. citizens were wiretapped without the established procedure of obtaining the approval and oversight of the FISA Court.

The Justice Department also received an award for efforts to gather information from Google regarding internet records. The awards are given to commemorate the birth date of Jefferson, April 13th. In this time of expanding Executive power and nagging questions about eroding civil liberties, it's good to know that the memory of Jefferson’s commitment to Constitutional principles is still celebrated. The following article is from the Associated Press:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — President George W. Bush and the U.S. Justice Department are among the winners of the 2006 Jefferson Muzzle awards, given by a free-speech group to those it considers the most egregious First Amendment violators in the past year.

Bush led the list, compiled by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, for authorizing the National Security Agency to tap the phones of U.S. citizens who make calls overseas. The wiretaps were conducted without authorization from a federal court. The White House defended the warrantless wiretapping program as necessary to fight terrorism.

The Justice Department earned a Muzzle for demanding that Google turn over thousands of Internet records, prompting concerns that more invasive requests could follow if the government prevails.

“If individuals are fearful that their communications will be intercepted by the government, such fears are likely to chill their speech," the centre said.

Other winners of the 15th annual awards include the Department of Homeland Security for barring an air marshal from expressing concerns about public safety; the Yelm, Wash., City Council for banning the words “Wal-Mart" and “big-box stores" at public hearings; and students at the University of Connecticut who heckled conservative columnist Ann Coulter.

The centre, based in Charlottesville, Va., awards the Muzzles each year to mark the April 13 birthday of Thomas Jefferson, the third president and a First Amendment advocate.

As in the past, this year’s winners reflect concern about “the overextension of government authority into areas that clearly affect our lives and chill and inhibit our ability to express views," centre director Robert O’Neil told The Associated Press.

Since the New York Times disclosed the surveillance program’s existence in December, it has become the target of harsh criticism, several lawsuits and a congressional investigation. John Dean, who was Richard Nixon’s White House counsel, said that the domestic spying exceeds the wrongdoing that toppled his former boss.

In the Google case, the Justice Department demanded search records to buttress its defence of a law aimed at protecting children from Internet pornography. Google resisted turning over any information because of user privacy and trade secret concerns. Other Internet providers — including AOL, Yahoo and MSN — complied with the government’s demand.

“Google appears to be the only one that drew a line in the sand," O’Neil said. “We commend their insistence that aggregate data could end up identifying a particular subscriber."

The Department of Homeland Security won its Muzzle for taking air marshal Frank Terreri off flight duty after he e-mailed colleagues expressing concerns about air-security risks. The federal policy curbing such activity was modified, and Terreri was allowed back on duty. But he sued, contending the department’s rules still restrict employees’ right to free speech.

In Yelm, Wash., the city council banned discussion of a plan by Wal-Mart to build a super centre after many opponents sought to express their views. When that didn’t squelch opposition, the council voted in June to prohibit citizens from using the terms “Wal-Mart" or “big-box stores" at public meetings.

Hecklers at the University of Connecticut earned a Muzzle for drowning out Coulter’s speech in December. People have a right to express their disagreement with a speaker, the free-expression centre said, but preventing fellow audience members from hearing the message is contrary to the First Amendment’s spirit.