Is O.J. Simpson more unjust than Qu Yuan?

Author: Chen Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: After the unprecedentedly brutal and globally shocking "9/11" terrorist attacks, American society faced a national crisis and formidable adversaries. Yet, rather than allowing the federal government, this "big brother," to arbitrarily infringe upon the personal rights of American citizens, everyone might become a victim of the next round of terrorist attacks. On December 16, 2005, the U.S. Senate declared this resolute political statement to all the American people through a vote! Stimulated by the "9/11" terrorist attacks, the U.S. Congress urgently enacted the "Patriot Act" in October 2001, one of the core contents of which was to allow government intelligence agencies to share information with each other (Section 203 and Section 218). This issue, which would sound naive and ridiculous in any other country, is a real and harsh political reality within the U.S. constitutional system characterized by checks and balances. To restrain and limit the power of the federal government, including the enforcement authority of the President and various government departments, and to protect citizens' rights, the U.S. Congress had passed numerous laws over the years, prohibiting or restricting intelligence cooperation between government departments. For many years, the renowned Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA), and other agencies operated independently, fought their own battles, had overlapping structures, and were inefficient. The main content of the "Patriot Act," including Sections 203 and 218 related to intelligence sharing, was set to expire on December 31, 2005. Whether to extend the act was a critical issue concerning national security and public order. However, the Senate of Congress actually refused to extend the effective period of the law. The reason was that this law granted the executive branch of the government excessive law enforcement privileges and provided too weak protection for citizens' rights.