NACDL

Is profiling a constitutionally-permissible weapon in the War on Terror? No

“A Man for All Seasons,” Sir Thomas More, Chancellor of England under Henry the VIII, was asked by his daughter’s suitor if he’d give the devil the benefit of law. More replied, “Yes. What would you do, cut a great road through the law to get after the devil?” “Yes,” the suitor answered, “I’d cut down every law in England to do that.” More responded:

Oh? And when the last law was down and the devil turned round on you where would you hide, ... the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man’s laws, not God’s — and if you cut them down ... do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I give the benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.

September 11th has had some absolutely horrific repercussions. One of these is that some of our most ardent champions of liberty are willing to cut down the constitutional pr