National Security, Civil Liberties, & Political Dissent in the United States Background to the Current Crisis

Liberty Security Terrorism

This book is about the rippling and sometimes chilling effects of antiterrorism and national security policy and law on a range of aspects of American life since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The early outlines of this story are by now reasonably well known and have been discussed in detail by David Cole and James X. Dempsey, Nat Hentoff, Nancy Chang, Raneta Lawson Mack and Michael J. Kelly, and others—the early, quick passage of the USA Patriot Act and its influence in American life; the detention of citizens and noncitizens on suspicion or charges of terrorist activity; increasing government secrecy and regulation on such varied issues as bioterrorism, cybersecurity, and a host of other topics; and the growing resistance from civil libertarians, legislators, citizens, and many others.