Once again, the judicial system of this nation has proven itself the protector of liberty and freedom in America. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that protesters at a rally against a U.S. military school in Columba, GA could not be subjected to going through metal detectors to reach the protest site.

In the ruling, Judge Gerald Tjoflat wrote that "We cannot simply suspend or restrict civil liberties until the War on Terror is over, because the War on Terror is unlikely ever to be truly over."

"Sept. 11, 2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy, cannot be the day liberty perished in this country."

The September 11 attacks have been used to justify a constant assault on the civil liberties of the American people. In this context, it is refreshing to see that there is a group willing to say that some of these "security measures" "eviscerate the Fourth Amendment."

President Bush has said during the course of his campaign that increased security measures are necessary, because "we have to be right 100% of the time. And the enemy only has to be right once to hurt us."
It is true that the enemy (al Qaeda) has already "hurt us;" however, if we allow a single incident to force us to limit the freedom and liberty we have, then we are allowing the enemy to continue hurting us, without any overt attack.

Throughout the course of its history, the United States has been confronted with many enemies. However, we have not let these enemies force us to change fundamental aspects of our nation. Groups like al Qaeda are merely a new enemy, and while dealing with each new enemy requires a new approach, we should never let any enemy drive us to changing basic American ideals, in particular those in our Constitution.

The Bill of Rights was passed with our Constitution because many of the state representatives felt there needed to be explicit protections of certain freedoms. This is where we are ensured such freedoms as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and several important protections for criminal trials, among others. Perhaps the most important of these amendments, however, is the Ninth Amendment: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

This means that the rights specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights are not the only rights afforded to American citizens. The Ninth Amendment is its own argument against those who claim that people do not have certain rights from the Constitution.

The truth is that we have more rights than the few listed in the Bill of Rights. Each and every one of should be standing up for all of these rights; to do that is to protect America and to truly be patriotic.