And no state attorney general should have access to Americans’ sensitive personal information without clearly showing cause or in the absence of criminal proceedings. Today, big government agencies already have large databases on Americans’ private information. Even the threat of disclosure threatens freedom of speech and association, which are the cornerstones of the American tradition. In America’s earliest days, Alexis de Tocqueville noted the “art of association then becomes … the mother science; everyone studies it and applies it” (quoted in AAF’s amicus brief First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin). President Ronald Reagan said the scariest words in the English language were “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” When the government collects information, Americans are threatened by the abuse of that information.