 "Photo: Jeff Mills")
More than 100 students, most sporting black T-shirts emblazoned with the question, "Am I a terrorist?", marched across the Oval Friday afternoon to protest the USA Patriot Act.
Many of the protesters, chanting "Kill the Patriot Act," marched into the library and borrowed books with titles such as "Aviation in Arabic," "Islamic Fundamentalism Since 1945," and "Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometry."
Borrowing the books could result in surreptitious government investigations, one of many civil liberties violations under the act passed 45 days following the Sept. 11 attacks, said Laura Tompkins, a sophomore in political science and co-president of Amnesty International's local chapter, Amnesty International at OSU.
"I'm here protesting today because I learned when I joined the ACLU Club autumn quarter that the government can tap your cell phone or check on your Internet use ... you can get in trouble for just writing something that looks suspicious," said Devon Degyansky, a junior in history.
The demonstration was part of Amnesty International's National Week of Student Action targeting congressional hearings that are revisiting parts of the act which expires in December if Congress does not renew passage. Sponsors of the protest were Amnesty International at OSU - which has 50 members, said co-president Jane Harrison, a junior in international studies - and the American Civil Liberties Union Club at Ohio State which has 250 members, said President Devin Henderson, a sophomore political science major.
"I understand where the Congress was coming from," Harrison said. "They were reacting to 9/11, but parts of the act defy the Constitution and wave due process rights."
Carrie Davis, staff counsel at the ACLU in Cleveland, rallied the students and spectators following the march. She said the bill is more than 340 pages long and incorporates other bills, which must be read to fully appreciate the meaning of the Patriot Act. Members of Congress had only a matter of hours to read the bill after it was introduced and before they voted on it, she said.
"Call your Senators and tell them to revisit the whole bill rather than just the parts which sunset," Davis said. "Tell your Senators two things: number one, this time, read it. And number two, fix it."
"It's vital for students to speak out against the abuse (of civil rights under the bill)," Daniel Tokaji, assistant professor at Moritz College of Law, told the crowd in front of the library. "Expiring provisions ought not be renewed."
Objections have been raised by civil rights activists, newspapers, librarians and booksellers across the country since the bill was enacted. In 2001, however, it enjoyed broad support and passed in the U.S. Senate with a 99-1 vote.
Ohio's two U.S. Senators, Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, did not return calls regarding the Patriot Act left at their offices over the past several days. Spokesmen for their offices declined comment.
The ACLU also opposed what is widely referred to as "Ohio's Patriot Act," which also enjoyed broad support and passed the Ohio Senate unanimously on March 9.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jeff Jacobson, R-Vandalia, objected to the moniker because of the significant amount of criticism the USA Patriot Act has engendered. He said the bill, Senate Bill 9, has never been called "Ohio's Patriot Act" by his office and has "nothing to do with libraries or bookstores."
He blamed the ACLU for coining the term "Ohio's Patriot Act" in order to "gin up instant opposition" to the bill.
"Their attempt to trash the bill backfired," Jacobson said. "The ACLU's lobbying tactics were a lesson in how not to work the legislative process. Senate Bill 9 strengthens Ohio's anti-terrorism laws."
"I worked hard on 25 different changes in Senate Bill 9 so it would not be in violation of people's Constitutional rights," said Sen. Marc Dann, R-Youngstown and the Judiciary Committee's top-ranking Democrat. "We addressed all of the objections the ACLU brought to us. I'm a little surprised that they're still opposed. I think the bill protects rather than takes away rights."
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