"Law-abiding citizens need not fear..."

The same fallacy is often repeated in the US, as the current government's concern for security (none dare call it paranoia) continues to ramp up. It is the mantra of those who crafted and supported the "Patriot" Act, among others.

It is a fallacy for the simple fact that "law abiding" is a moving target. The same circumstances claimed to justify increased surveillance are also used to shorten the list of behaviors -- and entire classes of people -- who are not suspect.

A less fallacious reading might be, "Law-abiding citizens need not fear the devices, but the motives of those who mandate them and use them." We have an example here: the recently-uncovered misuse of powers granted by that aforementioned Patriot Act to the FBI, who have obtained personal information without cause.

It's time to stretch a metaphor:

Musing just now on the question, "What do you call it when it's not abruptly severe enough to earn the adjective 'draconian', but instead is more insidious?"

Draconian -- "severe, oppressive or strict" -- refers to law and punishment, and is derived from the rule of a 7th C. Greek named Draco. It could more generically refer to anything "dragonlike".

By similarity along reptilian lines, I coin a new adjective: ophidian -- "snakelike" -- to be applied to laws, written by the paranoid and enforced by the incompetent and/or malicious, which slowly squeeze the breath from our personal and civil liberties.