Pubdate: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 Source: State, The (SC) Copyright: 2003 The State Contact: http://www.thestate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426 Author: Clif LeBlanc, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Patriot+Act (Patriot Act) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ashcroft.htm (Ashcroft, John) ASHCROFT TOUTS LOWER CRIME RATE Attorney General Speaks in Columbia, Credits Patriot Act, Police for Success Attorney General John Ashcroft brought his tough-on-criminals message to Columbia Wednesday, crediting record-low crime rates to the Bush administration and calling for even more tools to fight terrorism. "America is more secure today than it was two years ago," Ashcroft told a friendly audience of federal, state and local police and prosecutors. "America is freer today than any time in history. "Our strategy is succeeding," he said. "We must keep the pressure up." Cooperation among police agencies and more help from a warier public during the last two years have reduced crime to a 30-year low, he said. Gun crime in the U.S. is down nearly one-third, Ashcroft said, adding that last year only 7 percent of all crime involved a firearm. Property crime, he said, is down 15 percent. "The violent crime victimization rate has fallen for all ethnic and racial groups ... all income levels: prince, pauper; rich, poor ... in every part of America." After his 25-minute speech at the Embassy Suites hotel, Ashcroft said his numbers are "new data" he got two weeks ago. His South Carolina stop was one of three in the Southeast Wednesday and nearly the 20th in a campaign to push for an end to what Ashcroft calls "revolving-door justice." His speech was sprinkled with anecdotes about a police officer shot in Omaha, Neb., last week by a career criminal; by advocacy for the right to bear arms; and by swats at critics who "resist even the most simple truths" about crime and punishment. USC Law School professor Richard Seamon is among those critics. "It's misleading to equate the Justice Department's efforts against terrorism with this broader (crime) trend," said the former Justice Department attorney. The national crime rate has been dropping steadily since President Clinton's first term, said Seamon, who did not attend Ashcroft's speech. Ashcroft said the USA Patriot Act, passed overwhelmingly by Congress in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorism attacks, has kept Americans safe. He argues the law extends to the war on terror the government's long-held powers to break up organized crime and drug operations. Ashcroft now wants higher bail for accused terrorists, the death penalty for convicted terrorists and broader subpoena powers. In a brief interview with The State, Ashcroft dismissed as "mythology" the view that antiterrorism laws threaten civil liberties and weaken judges' oversight of police and prosecutors. Seamon and other civil libertarians disagree. What the Justice Department calls modest changes in the law are "all like loosening the bolts," Seamon said. "I'm afraid that civil liberties are going to collapse." But many police officers who heard Ashcroft Wednesday agreed with his speech. "We did not seek this struggle, but we embrace this cause," Ashcroft said. "What is asked of us, we accept. What we accept we will achieve." It was "good for a law enforcement audience," said Hubert Harrell, the No. 2 officer in the Richland County Sheriff's Department. "That makes us feel that we're not out there doing all this stuff in vain, that somebody understands." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake