The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has declared that the specter of terrorism is insufficient to warrant the reduction of First Amendment protections as understood by the courts in its decision in Bourgeois v. Peters, a case with broad implications for the screening procedures used at the GOP and Democratic conventions, campaign rallies, as well as the ongoing debate about civil liberties and the “war on terror”.

From the 11th Circuit’s decision: “Sept. 11, 2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy, cannot be the day liberty perished in this country.”

From the article: “This is really the first case in the country involved with mass searches of nonviolent demonstrators,” says Georgia ACLU director Gerry Weber, who argued the case two years ago. “It's the first case I'm aware of where government reliance was grounded in generalized concern about terrorist attacks.”

The decision will likely be cited in future cases where the government raises the attacks of Sept. 11 as a reason to change or diminish constitutional rights, he says.

Police are now going to have a harder time justifying mass searches without warrants simply by appealing to concerns over terrorism. How this ruling will directly affect what few large rallies are left in this campaign is not clear, since the GOP and the Dems still have the final say over who enters their events.