Elections are two months away, and that can only mean one thing: politicking and partisan squabbling will reach a two-year high in both the Massachusetts Statehouse and United States Congress.
Yesterday’s Statehouse passage of anti-terrorism legislation, just days before the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11, smacks of election year politics, as state senators and representatives scramble to show voters their progress on protecting all citizens. Their efforts to score political gains on the back of one of the worst tragedies in our nation’s history are tacky at best, disrespectful at worst.
The substance of the legislation makes sense. The bill imposes more stringent penalties for terrorist threats, adds protection to sensitive building plans and stipulates explosive materials can only be stored with a proper permit. However, the importance of yesterday’s anti-terrorism legislation was superseded by other concerns earlier this year and similar legislation was introduced and passed up long before Sept. 11. Unfortunately, this Statehouse effort can be easily seen as all too thinly veiled electoral politics.
The Statehouse bill also includes provisions most people should have expected state law to already include. How did legislators avoid banning the possession of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons years ago? And making illegal the possession of a cutting device in secure areas of airports and airplanes seems too much like closing the barn door long after the horse ran away.
After yesterday’s anthrax hoax in Boston’s northern suburbs, the importance of increasing the penalties for terrorist activity is clear. Only strong deterrents will stem the tide of phony threats that picked up steam after 9/11.
But lawmakers should also avoid too broadly defining terrorism and infringing upon civil liberties. Though Sept. 11 taught Americans to expect the worst, law enforcement officials should not, intentionally or unintentionally, be given the tools to violate citizens’ legitimate rights.
Though good intentions may have been behind the Statehouse’s passage of anti-terrorism legislation yesterday, state senators and representatives don’t deserve congratulations for their efforts. The bill represents only a small step in bringing Massachusetts law up to today’s standards of common sense terrorism protection.
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