Respect Free Speech, but Note the Words : Extremists: Keeping track of them is a public service; Americans should knowwhat’s in their midst.

“Five People Killed at New York’s World Trade Center,” “Shootout at a Cult Retreat Near Waco, Tex.” The headlines are grim reminders of the precariousness of our open democratic society. A handful of terrorists disrupts a city, religious zealots terrorize a small town and both hypnotize a nation.

It is at times like these that the importance of the Anti-Defamation League’s fact-finding operation becomes more apparent than ever. During calmer times, society can comfortably ignore the crucial need for monitoring extremists, but not today.

As police were sifting through the rubble at the World Trade Center, one hoped that they had clues as to which groups in the area might have a propensity for violence, which ones might have been involved. Indeed, police quickly developed investigative theories, based on research, as to which individuals had espoused the brand of political extremism that could have led to the wanton murder of innocent people.

In Texas, cult experts had documentation on what the Branch Davidians had previously said and done and an understanding of their modus operandi.

Understanding the nature and methods of extremists is the obligation of all Americans, not just law enforcement. If the general public is unable to reject the blandishments of bigots and those who exist on the fringes of our political landscape, law enforcement will be of little help, other than as a cleanup crew.

The ADL has worked for decades to educate the public about the threats posed by extremist groups. Our reports, books and other material document, in careful detail, groups--on the right and on the left--that are potential sources of danger to our democracy and its fragile fabric.

The reports are widely disseminated to the media, law enforcement, research institutions and the general public and have been critically important in alerting the public to imminent threats.

From the skinhead youth gangs to the far right’s paramilitary training camps to successful litigation against the racist leaders Tom and John Metzger, the ADL’s systematic gathering of data--noting the words and deeds of those who manifest a contempt for democracy and its processes--has proved invaluable.

The history of the 20th Century amply demonstrates the impact of words--the frenzy to which throngs can be raised with a demagogue’s oratory. The First Amendment does not mandate that Americans ignore the threats that other nations have learned to take seriously. Words need not be treated as ephemera to be heard and, by fiat, forgotten. The Founding Fathers understood both the majesty and the impact of free speech, and so does the ADL.

The right to speech must be respected, but so must the right to note it and subject it to critical analysis.

For the past decade and a half, to correct abuses of the past, civil-libertarian groups have succeeded in limiting the ability of law-enforcement agencies to collect information on individuals. The recent attacks against the ADL implies that private organizations should also be restricted from keeping information. The ADL’s effort to monitor extremists is deemed “spying” by some civil libertarians.

Although misconduct by law enforcement and harassment of private citizens from any sector--public or private--must be stopped, it is increasingly necessary for the body politic to to be aware of violence-prone extremist groups. If law enforcement and, by extension, private organizations, are prevented from educating themselves and the public, we lose a valuable weapon in maintaining public safety.

We will become a society devoid of memory. In effect, history will begin anew each day. When a World Trade Center explodes, research and analysis will begin the day after, not years before.

Our society undoubtedly needs protection from invasions of our privacy and overzealous and invasive law-enforcement agencies, but the Constitution does not mandate collective amnesia or ignorance by public or private organizations.