Vol. 74/No. 21      May 31, 2010

Cops questioned Faisal Shahzad, a U.S. citizen accused of attempting to bomb Times Square, for hours before informing him of his Miranda rights—the right to remain silent and be represented by a lawyer. Attorney General Eric Holder argued this violation of Shahzad’s rights was in the interests of “public safety.” A similar argument has been made to justify the executive order by President Barack Obama to assassinate U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim cleric the government says communicated with Maj. Nidal Hasan before he killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, last November.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court upheld the authority of the federal government to arbitrarily keep prisoners in custody long after they have served their sentences. The ruling, involving inmates deemed “sexually dangerous,” sets a bad precedent for unionists and other fighters the government also considers “dangerous.”

The Miranda ruling was part of the expansion of constitutional protections against government encroachment on rights won by working people in the course of the Black struggle beginning in the 1950s. These also included guaranteed access to an attorney for any worker accused of a crime, prohibition on using illegally seized “evidence” in court, and abolition of the death penalty.

Today the capitalists have succeeded in eroding many rights by taking advantage of acts that have nothing to do with the fight against class exploitation and oppression, such as the Times Square bomb attempt.

As the capitalist economic crisis deepens on a world scale, the employers will widen their wars abroad and deepen their assault on workers rights, working conditions, and living standards at home. This will inevitably breed working-class resistance.

The rulers want as many things in place as possible to bolster their military and police powers and to limit the ability of workers to organize and defend themselves from government attack. Our answer must be to oppose Washington’s wars abroad and its assault on the rights of working people and their organizations.
 
 
Related articles:
U.S. gov’t takes aim at workers rights
Free the Cuban Five!
Blacks, Latinos targeted in N.Y. ‘stop and frisk’
Seattle video shows cop brutality  
 
 
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