Eroding civil liberties.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Oblivious to Americans' growing - and legitimate - fear that anti-terrorism legislation poses a serious threat to civil liberties, President Bush is asking Congress for more sweeping new laws to combat terrorism.

Never one to shy from taking advantage of the public's fears, the president made his request on the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Bush said he wants Congress to give the government the power to issue subpoenas without the approval of a judge or grand jury, to expand the federal death penalty to include more people convicted of certain terrorist acts and to automatically deny bail to defendants charged with some terrorism-related crimes.

Like his attorney general, John Ashcroft, Bush claims that the original USA Patriot Act doesn't give the government adequate authority to investigate terrorists. We disagree with that assessment, as do a growing number of Americans, including both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Congress should firmly reject Bush's request and start laying the groundwork for trimming the overly broad Patriot Act that it too hurriedly approved in the shadow-filled weeks after Sept. 11.

Bush's request for "administrative subpoenas" and to automatically deny bail to defendants represents the administration's latest effort to build a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system.

Under the Constitution, the actions of the executive branch should be held accountable to an independent branch of the government, in this case the judiciary. The decision to issue subpoenas, and to set or deny bail, belong to grand juries and the courts, and not to an executive branch that already has been granted unprecedented powers.

As for expanding the number of offenses for which the death penalty is applicable, this newspaper has long opposed capital punishment. Given the suicidal fervor exhibited by terrorists, it's silly to believe that the death penalty would have the slightest value as a deterrent.

Ashcroft recently hit the road to extol the virtues of the Patriot Act. He also is laying the groundwork for a sequel that would incorporate the president's proposals and would steal away even more of the liberties that are at the core of this nation's identity.

Americans are having second thoughts about the administration's willingness to abandon constitutional protections. Three states and more than 140 cities and counties nationwide have approved resolutions denouncing the Patriot Act. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation that would modify some of the worst provisions of the Patriot Act and other antiterrorism programs.

Americans share President Bush's determination to keep their country safe from attack. The best way to do that is for the government to do a better job of using the formidable powers and wealth of intelligence that it already has, not to continue expanding governmental authority.

The president and his attorney general should stop regarding civil liberties as obstacles to law enforcement. And Congress must find the spinal capacity necessary to make certain that this nation remains both safe and free.