Silencing Political Dissent: How Post#September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures Threaten Our Civil Liberties

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Seven Stories Press, 2002 M07 9 - 168 pages
In her groundbreaking new book, Silencing Political Dissent, constitutional expert Nancy Chang examines how the Bush administration's fight against terrorism is resulting in a disturbing erosion of First Amendment rights and increase of executive power.
Chang's compelling analysis begins with a historical review of political repression and intolerance of dissent in America. From the Sedition Act of 1798, through the Smith Act of the 1940s and the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II, to the FBI's infamous COINTELPRO program of the 1960s, Chang recalls how during times of crisis and war, the U.S. government has unjustly detained individuals, invaded personal privacy, and hampered the free speech of Americans.
Chang's expertise as a senior constitutional attorney shines through in the power and clarity of her argument. Meticulously researched and footnoted, Chang's book forces us to challenge the government when it is unpopular to do so, and to consider that perhaps "our future safety lies in the expansion, rather the contraction, of the democratic values set forth in the Constitution."

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Contents

THE CONSTITUTION IN TURMOIL
19
Criminalizing Political Dissent
22
Interfering with the Right to Freedom of Political Association
27
Targeting Perceived Enemies for Detention and Deportation
37
HOW THE USA PATRIOT ACT UNDERMINES OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES
43
Blurring the Line Between Ideology and Terrorism
44
Toiling the Death Knell on Privacy
46
Stripping Noncitizens of Constitutional Protections
62
Monitoring the AttorneyClient Communications of Federal Inmates
87
SILENCING POLITICAL DISSENT
92
A Question of Patriotism
93
Guilt By Association
103
The Rise of Government Secrecy
124
RECLAIMING OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES
135
NOTES
138
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
167

EDGING TOWARD GOVERNMENT BY EXECUTIVE FIAT
67
Americas Disappeared
69

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About the author (2002)

NANCY CHANG is the Senior Litigation Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City. Nancy’s work at CCR has focused on protecting the First Amendment rights of political activists against government efforts to silence dissent, safeguarding civil liberties against measures taken in the name of national security, protecting the constitutional rights of immigrants, and combating racial profiling.

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