An Analysis of the Sources of Disagreement Between John Ashcroft and David Cole

The two articles "Testimony to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary" and "The Ashcroft Raids" present opposite views on the issue of whether or not the USA Patriot Act is constitutional. In John Ashcroft's speech "Testimony to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary" he commends the procedures that are enabled by the Patriot Act and gives reasons for their justification. The other article, "The Ashcroft Raids" is written by David Cole who is an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights. Cole presents the manner in which the USA Patriot Act violates human rights.

Ashcroft and Cole have very different views on distinguishing protecting the citizens and violating the rights of citizens. They disagree on the facts regarding the detainment of immigrants. Ashcroft states, "Currently, we have brought criminal charges against 110 individuals, of whom 60 are in federal custody. The INS has detained 563 individuals on immigration violations" (527). Ashcroft presents this as an example of how the USA Patriot Act is benefiting the citizens. Cole disagrees with this method of detainment and says "The government seems to have dispensed with developing probable cause before arresting individuals, and instead has used pretexts- usually of routine immigration violations- as justification for detaining hundreds of people about whom it has only he slightest suspicion" (530). Ashcroft and Cole also greatly disagree over the facts concerning the treatment of the detainees. Ashcroft says that every person being held is given the right to contact legal aid, and their families. Cole points out that those who were detained were held without official charges being brought against them, and now the Immigration and Naturalization Service has modified the regulation so detention without charges is permissible for forty-eight hours, compared to the previous regulation of twenty-four.

Ashcroft and Cole have sharply contrasting underlying values and assumptions regarding the USA Patriot Act. John Ashcroft works with the Bush administration and is following his orders to inform the Senate of the intentions of the Patriot Act. Ashcroft works side by side with the President, and is therefore an advocate for the Patriot Act. He does not believe that human rights have been violated, and that the act is protecting the people of the United States. David Cole's article appeared in Amnesty Now, which is a magazine published by the organization Amnesty International, that is responsible for protecting human rights. Cole is also an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights. He feels that the USA Patriot Act greatly infringes on the rights of humans, particularly immigrants. He compares the current investigation of the terrorist attacks to the investigation dubbed the "Palmer Raids". These raids were held in 1919, and it was when immigrants were treated very poorly, when being interrogated about the bombing of the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Cole points out the similarities of how individuals are detained; in the current investigation individuals are detained through immigration violations, and in the Palmer Raids individuals were detained by guilt by association. Both investigations primarily target immigrants. Cole states, "The government has imposed on aliens widespread human rights deprivations that citizens would not tolerate" (532).

Both Ashcroft and Cole make very strong points in their arguments. Ashcroft claims that protection is the reason for the Patriot Act and that it only enables us "to wage war on terrorism and defend our nation and its citizens" (529). However, Cole makes a strong point that "precisely because the terrorists violated every rule of human decency, it is critical that in responding to the terrorist threat we hold fast to the rule of law" (533). Cole feels that in protecting our country we will inevitably violate our own people.

Works Cited

Ashcroft, John. "Testimony to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary."

Rpt. In Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 6^th edition. New York: Longman, 2004. 524-529.

Cole, David. "The Ashcroft Raids." Amnesty Now Nov. 2002.

Rpt. In Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 6^th edition. New York: Longman, 2004. 529-533.