Silencing political dissent
Just six weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Congress overwhelmingly approved the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, better known by its acronym, the USA Patriot Act. This hastily-drafted, complex, and far-reaching legislation spans 342 pages. Yet it was passed with virtually no public hearing or debate and was accompanied by neither a conference nor a committee report. This timely and lucid analysis examines how the new law endows the executive branch with vast unchecked powers, erodes civil liberties and privacy, and impacts immigrants
168 pages ; 18 cm.
9781583224946, 1583224947
50399459
The constitution in turmoil
Criminalizing political dissent
Interfering with the right to freedom of political association
Targeting perceived enemies for detention and deportation
How the USA Patriot Act undermines our civil liberties
Blurring the line between ideology and terrorism
Tolling the death knell on privacy
Stripping noncitizens of constitutional protections
Edging toward government by executive fiat
America's disappeared
Monitoring the attorney-client communications of federal inmates
Silencing political dissent
A question of patriotism
Guilt by association
The rise of government secrecy
Reclaiming our civil liberties