Like many Americans, the Rev. Dan Hutt of Palo Alto was prepared to sacrifice some freedom for more safety in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
During those frightening weeks, Congress overwhelmingly passed the hastily drafted USA Patriot Act. It gave the federal government broad new counterterrorism powers, such as allowing investigators to comb library records and secretly search people's homes.
Hutt didn't object -- back then.
``I could understand how that happened,'' the 34-year-old said last week during a family outing at San Jose's Christmas in the Park. ``People were saying, `We need to look carefully at security in the country.' ''
But more than four years after the attacks, many Americans appear less willing to give up their civil liberties in the search for terrorists.
A pair of San Francisco 49er season-ticket holders have sued the team, complaining that post-Sept. 11 pat-down searches of fans entering Monster Park violate their privacy. Attempts to enact long-term renewals of key provisions of the Patriot Act have been derailed because of a political dispute in Washington, D.C., over curtailing some of its powers, forcing a temporary extension last week. And President Bush is under bipartisan fire for authorizing electronic eavesdropping of U.S. citizens without court orders.
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