Summarize the government's basic argument for restricting civil liberties during war.
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during World War I through the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, which were used to ban and punish criticism of the government and war. Additionally, some immigrants were arrested, denied a hearing, and deported because they were believed to support the Germans.
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In times of war or grave threat, the United States has not always lived up to its highest ideals. But the American people and their government do act to restore their civil rights and liberties and those of others. The author, Geoffrey R. Stone, is the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Law School.
An important lesson of American history is that the United States tends to restrict civil liberties excessively in time of war. In some sense, this is understandable, because war breeds fear and fear breeds repression. But as a self-governing society that aspires to respect the liberties of all people, the United States must strive to discipline itself and to respect individual freedom even in time of war. A critical question is whether we can learn the lessons of our own history.
In this essay, I will briefly review the American experience in 1798, the Civil War, World War I and World War II, and then offer some observations.
The fight between the USS Constellation and L’Insurgente of France (William Bainbridge Hoff/Creative Commons)
In 1798, less than a decade after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the United States found itself embroiled in a European war that then raged between France and England. A bitter political debate divided the Federalists, who favored the English, and the Republicans, who favored the French. The Federalists were then in power, and the administration of President John Adams initiated a series of defense measures that brought the United States into a state of undeclared war with France.
The Republicans fiercely opposed these measures, leading the Federalists to accuse them of disloyalty. President Adams, for example, declared that the Republicans “would sink the glory of our country and prostrate her liberties at the feet of France.” Against this backdrop, the Federalists enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The Alien Act empowered the president to deport any noncitizen he judged to be dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States. The act accorded the noncitizen no right to a hearing, no right to present evidence and no right to judicial review.