About 10 days ago a bomb threat was called in to Brandeis University, and the call was traced to a computer at the Main Library in Newton. When the police and FBI arrived, Glick-Weil, with Mayor Cohen's backing, refused them access without a warrant. A warrant is required under the Constitution and under the 1978 FISA law.
The police returned later with a warrant, and the computers were taken out to be examined.
No one disputes that a bomb threat is serious, but bomb threats to
public places have been occurring for decades. In this time of fear, it
is easy to over-react, but allowing illegal searches could become the
beginning of slippery slope, leading to a loss of bed-rock civil rights. History has shown what a climate of fear can do to ordinary people's tolerance for giving up their legal rights. It can happen here.
Linda Nathanson
Newton Dialogues on Peace & War
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