Expanding Border Powers Creating ‘Constitution-Free Zone’ That Covers Two-Thirds of Americans
The extraordinary powers of customs and border agents to invade the privacy of individuals at the U.S. border are spreading inland and creating what amounts to a “Constitution-free Zone” that covers fully two-thirds of the American population, the American Civil Liberties Union said today in a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
“The authorities can do things at the border that they could never do to citizens and residents inside our country under the Constitution,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “Yet the government is asserting that some of these powers extend as far as 100 miles inside the actual border..."
...the ACLU released a map showing the 100-mile “border region” claimed by the government, and cities and states that fall within it. The map, which was created using the latest census data, shows that fully two-thirds of the U.S. population, including 9 of the nation’s top 10 largest metro areas, is within the border zone.
10/22/2008
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/37306prs20081022.html
Fact Sheet on U.S. "Constitution Free Zone"
- TWO-THIRDS of the United States’ population lives within this Constitution-free or Constitution-lite Zone.
- That’s 197.4 million people who live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.
- 9 of the top 10 largest metropolitan areas as determined by the 2000 census, fall within the Constitution-free Zone.
- Some states are considered to lie completely within the zone: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/37293res20081022.html
Percentage of Population in Constitution-Free Zone
A chart by state:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/spying/37320res20081022.html
Posts
