Patriot vs. Patriot act.

• Author: Sanchez, Julian
• Position: Soundbite

For decades Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff has been one of America's most trenchant defenders of civil liberties. The most recent of his many books, The War on the Bill of Rights--and the Gathering Resistance (Seven Stories Press), was published in 2003; it explores the USA PATRIOT Act and other threats to freedom in the wake of 9/11. Hentoffspoke with Assistant Editor Julian Sanchez in November.

Q. What threats to civil liberties haven't gotten enough exposure?

A: The leaked draft of PATRIOT II prompted considerable concern, so the administration is now trying to get a lot of what was included there piecemeal. Also, they're still pushing for the right to get administrative subpoenas for records, none of which have to go past a judge. And Ashcroft rounded up hundreds of non-Americans for "detention"--that's prison--for months.

MATRIX is a privately run search engine in Florida, funded in part by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. It's an which attempt to get back to Total Information Awareness, was killed in Congress. It combines databases of all kinds. It's not a federal operation, but it's being sold to the states. Seven others have already signed on.

Q: Are there expanded law enforcement powers that you would support now?

A: They don't need new powers; they need people who know what they're doing. I think it's very unfortunate that [CIA Director] George Tenet, who's been very incompetent, hasn't been...