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Ralph Nader on Civil Liberties and Domestic Security

Civil liberties are the freedoms and rights that protect individuals from government abuse. Civil liberty and domestic security concerns generally involve the rights granted to the federal government to involve them self in the private lives of citizens. With a greater concern for terrorism in the US and an increase in technological capacity for surveillance, this issue has played a large role in US foreign and domestic policy. This topic includes information about candidate positions on such issues as: the Patriot Act, the federal government's surveillance powers, and rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

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Ralph Nader strongly opposes the 2006 extension of the Patriot Act

"According to a report released on March 3 by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the implementation of the Patriot Act has been associated with abuses of the civil rights of Muslim-Americans."

Campaign website, VoteNader.org Nov 11, 2004

"Q: Briefly describe Nader's position on Civil Rights. A: Ralph Nader "supports the restoration of civil liberties, repeal of the Patriot Act, and an end to secret detentions, arrests without charges, no access to attorneys and the use of secret 'evidence,' military tribunals for civilians, non-combatant status and the shredding of 'probable cause' determinations."

Green Party 2008 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire Feb 3, 2008

Ralph Nader strongly opposes giving the federal government more domestic surveillance power

"Now comes the most recent, blatant impeachable offense - Bush ordering the spying on Americans in our country by the National Security Agency. This disclosure stunned many N.S.A. staff who themselves view domestic surveillance as anathema...Domestic eavesdropping on Americans by order of the President to the National Security Agency violates the 27-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless they obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court. This court meets in secret and has rejected only four out of 19,000 applications."

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"First of all, tax returns are a matter of privacy between individuals and the U.S. Treasury. They are inappropriate vehicles for political candidates to disclose and breach the -- what I think should be -- impenetrable protection of privacy. For 30 years I have supported the right of privacy -- whether for medical data, credit information, tax information -- and I want to practice what I preach."

San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday Interview, p. 3/Z1 Oct 13, 1996

Ralph Nader strongly supports extending the right of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees

"In the first 100 days I would make a justice declaration, that this country is a country under the rule of law and that people who are accused of anything are going to get due process… They are not going to be arrested without charges, imprisoned without lawyers, as we have seen in recent years in this country."

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"Q: Briefly describe Nader's position on Civil Rights. A: Ralph Nader "supports the restoration of civil liberties, repeal of the Patriot Act, and an end to secret detentions, arrests without charges, no access to attorneys and the use of secret 'evidence,' military tribunals for civilians, non-combatant status and the shredding of 'probable cause' determinations."

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"We support the right of habeas corpus being available to any person anywhere whose imprisonment violates fundamental norms of international law."

Green Party Platform, as ratified at the National Convention Jun 25, 2000

Ralph Nader strongly opposes the use of interrogation methods that cause physical or emotional suffering

BLITZER: Ralph Nader, the point that the administration makes is, if they treat Al Qaeda as terrorist suspects, they can question them and try to get answers about future terrorist operations that may have been in the works. If they're treated according to the Geneva Conventions, basically, and POW status, they only have to give their name, rank and serial number. NADER: The interrogation is going on whether they are Al Qaeda or Taliban. And the reality on the ground, the interrogation goes on. The main thrust of the Geneva Convention is to prevent torture...They are going to be interrogated anyway, because how are they going to decide whether they are Al Qaeda or Taliban? Who is going to admit that? They're going to be interrogated. They have been interrogated in Guantanamo Bay. They will continue to be. My main concern, I think the human rights groups' main concern, is the prohibition on torture.

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"So long as the lawyers and their bar associations in America do not challenge the advancing dictatorial powers of George W. Bush, so long as citizen groups, labor unions and libertarians, conservatives and liberals avoid uniting together, these constitutional crimes against due process, probable cause, habeas corpus, together with torture and indefinite imprisonment at the whim of the Executive branch, will worsen and erode American jurisprudence with serious consequences for both the nation's security and its liberties."

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"[Barack Obama] offers nothing to hold this outlaw presidency accountable. He's backing away from any kind of accountability for a presidency that has made a mockery of the constitution, made a mockery of federal law and international treaties, whether it's systemic torture and illegal war in Iraq, spying on Americans without judicial approval or undermining the authority of Congress, which he's a part of."

2008 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer Feb 3, 2008