Republican Presidential Candidates Spar Over Racial Profiling (ContributorNetwork)

To this day, there is an enduring debate in Washington on the constitutionality and morality of racial profiling. Some argue that for law enforcement to disproportionately target people of a certain race or ethnicity is an affront to both the Fourth Amendment and civil rights. Others maintain that it is an effective and necessary crime-fighting strategy, founded on clear evidence.

Given this context, it is valuable to understand where candidates stand on profiling, racial or otherwise, as well as their view of how to balance our rights and our safety.

The following is a collection of quotes from the major GOP candidates, according to the national security debate transcript provided by CNN.

* Rick Santorum: "We are at war. The last time we had a threat at home like this ? was during the Civil War. And, of course, Abraham Lincoln ran right over civil rights. Why? Because we had a present domestic threat. In the previous wars that we've had, we haven't had this type of threat that we have here in the homeland. And we have to deal with it differently. ? The folks who are most likely to be committing these crimes (would be profiled). I mean, obviously, Muslims would be someone you'd look at, absolutely. ? The radical Muslims are the people that are committing these crimes ? by and large, as well as younger males."

* Ron Paul: "What if they look like Timothy McVeigh? You know, he was a pretty tough criminal. I think we're using too much carelessness in the use of words that we're at war. I don't remember voting on a declaration of war. Oh, we're against terrorism. And terrorism is a tactic. It isn't a person. It isn't a people. So this is a very careless use of words. What about this? Sacrifice liberties because there are terrorists? ? In the DOD budget they have changed the wording on the definition of al-Qaeda and Taliban. It's anybody associated with organizations, which means almost anybody can be loosely associated so that makes all Americans vulnerable. And now we know that American citizens are vulnerable to assassination. So I would be very cautious about protecting the rule of law. It will be a sacrifice that you'll be sorry for."

* Mitt Romney: "Well, we can do a lot better than the TSA system. It's going to get better over time. We can use better technology. We can also identify people who are lower risk and allow them to go through the process more quickly than the current process. But let's come back to the issue that seems to be so confusing here. And that is Congressman Paul talked about crime. ??? There are different categories here. There's crime and there are rights that are afforded to American citizens under our Constitution and those that are accused of crime. Then there's war. And the tool of war being used today in America and around the world is terror. There's a different body of law that relates to war."

* Rick Perry: "Well, here's what I would do with the TSA; I would privatize it as soon as I could and get rid of those unions. It's working in Denver. They have a program where they're privatizing it. And the airlines and other private-sector groups work together to do the security in our airports. ? And I agree with most of my colleagues here on the stage when we talk about the Patriot Act. And we need to keep it in place"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120113/pl_ac/10829881_republican_presidential_candidates_spar_over_racial_profiling

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