It is terrifying in terms of civil liberties and it is rather ironic that it also happens to be the law created to deal with the Algerian revolt.

La loi du 3 avril 1955 «instituant un état d'urgence et en déclarant l'application en Algérie»

The link includes all the ammendments introduced over the past half century.

BTW. The German press is having just as much of a field day as their American colleagues. And, dare I mention this, the French press is pretty worked up as well, including some pretty over the top things (op ed title in Libe 'Banlieues: Mai '68 ou Weimar')

How about skipping the defensiveness and focusing on the real problems that these riots highlight rather than minimizing their importance and complaining that foreign coverage is unfair - even when it is.