NV: Lawmakers look at curbing civil liberties to protect state
Protecting citizens in a time of terrorism and war outweighs assuring 
certain traditional civil liberties, some key lawmakers said Tuesday. 
...  In a Judiciary Committee hearing addressing what Nevada would 
need to survive an enemy attack, legislators and witnesses called for 
holding private governmental meetings and keeping records closed from 
the public. Some expressed distrust of the news media. ... Under the 
bill, the Commission on Homeland Security could hold closed meetings 
to discuss information it deems of a sensitive nature. It also would 
make "vulnerability assessments" of airports, hospitals, dams, 
highways, utilities, the Capitol and other major buildings to 
determine their susceptibility to sabotage. It would collect maps, 
drawings, architectural renderings, building plans and other material 
about major buildings. This information would be kept confidential. 
It would not be subject to inspection by the general public, 
including the news media, unless the governor determined by executive 
order that this would not compromise public safety. Under the bill, 
the whereabouts of government officials in times of emergency also 
would be kept confidential. In addition, the bill sets out a plan for 
running state and county governments in the event that a 
"catastrophic emergency" caused by "enemy attack" has left the state 
in a shambles. Legislators who remained alive after an attack would 
elect a governor if the governor and his constitutional successors 
had been killed. Only the governor could determine when the crisis 
had passed and government could return to normal operations. The 
far-reaching bill even requires the installation of automated 
external defibrillators in schools, stadiums and public buildings 
around the state. Defibrillators are devices that shock the heart 
into restarting in cases of cardiac arrest. The bill also gives the 
Department of Motor Vehicles the authority to refuse to issue 
driver's licenses to some foreign nationals. ...

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