Perspective: A selective protection of rights

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has led the charge to dismantle privacy rights in the cause of pursuing terrorists. He tapped Congress for greater powers to gain access to people's financial and phone records. He authorized government agents to eavesdrop on a lawyer's conversations with a client suspected of terrorist connections. Now, Ashcroft has found what he apparently considers an inviolate right to privacy -- the government's record of gun purchases.

In a departure from previous policy, he is refusing to let the FBI cross-reference the names of people being detained as part of the antiterrorism investigation with the records maintained by the Justice Department of people who have purchased guns within the last 90 days. His spokeswoman says it is the department's legal interpretation of the Brady gun-control law that background checks for gun purchasers may not be used for law enforcement investigations.

Federal agents are reportedly livid over this restriction, particularly since until this new pronouncement, the FBI was allowed access to the background checks of anyone who failed to legally qualify for a gun, such as illegal immigrants.

It is no coincidence that this new policy comes out of a department run by a darling of the gun lobby. In the effort to root out terrorists, it seems the Justice Department may roll over any part of the Bill of Rights except the Second Amendment. Even during intense questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ashcroft unapologetically refused to support giving the FBI access to the background checks. The display gave us a true picture of our attorney general and his willingness to sacrifice potentially important intelligence on terrorists rather than offend the National Rifle Association.

In another disingenuous claim, Ashcroft is refusing to disclose the names of the 1,200 people detained in the terrorism investigation on the basis that it would violate their right to privacy. "The law properly prevents the department from creating a public blacklist of detainees that would violate their rights," Ashcroft said.

Arrest records are public as a way to keep law enforcement accountable, and far from worrying about a "blacklist," civil rights groups and Arab-American organizations have been clamoring for those names. A lawsuit was filed last week by these groups to force the Justice Department to open up the records. But no matter, according to Ashcroft, the detainees have a right to have their incarceration kept under wraps -- so far under that in some cases even their lawyers can't find them.

The attorney general's new-found respect for privacy rights is a farce.

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