Silencing political dissent: how post-September 11 anti-terrorism measures threaten our civil liberties

126 Pages·2002·0.91 MB·English

by  Nancy Chang

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Copyright © 2002 by Nancy Chang and the Center for Constitutional Rights A Seven Stories Press
First Edition,
published in association with Open Media.
Open Media Pamphlet Series editor, Greg Ruggiero.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electric, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
eISBN: 978-1-60980303-2
Cover design and photo by Greg Ruggiero.
v3.1
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD BY HOWARD ZINN
INTRODUCTION
1. THE CONSTITUTION IN TURMOIL
Criminalizing Political Dissent
Interfering with the Right to Freedom of Political Association
Targeting Perceived Enemies for Detention and Deportation
2. 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
3. EDGING TOWARD GOVERNMENT BY EXECUTIVE FIAT
America’s Disappeared
Monitoring the Attorney-Client Communications of Federal Inmates
4. SILENCING POLITICAL DISSENT
A Question of Patriotism
Guilt By Association
The Rise of Government Secrecy
5. RECLAIMING OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES
NOTES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, T. C. Chang,
who passed away on March 18, 2002. Her example of how an
ordinary life can be conducted with extraordinary grace, purpose, and
wisdom carries me forward.
In addition, this book is dedicated to my husband, Daniel Rossner,
who, but for the New York primary election scheduled for September 11,
2001, would have been in his office on the fifty-eighth floor of One
World Trade Center at the time that tower was struck. Dan has
encouraged me both in the writing of this book and in my work for the
past five and a half years as an attorney at the Center for Constitutional
Rights. I am grateful to him for his love and support, and for his
unwavering commitment to the Bill of Rights.
Finally, this book is dedicated to the memory of those who fell victim
to the September 11 attacks and to their loved ones.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Iwish to thank all of my colleagues at the Center for Constitutional
Rights for their tireless efforts to safeguard the Bill of Rights in the
wake of September 11. This book has benefited enormously from my
discussions with CCR colleagues William Goodman, Ron Daniels,
Michael Ratner, Arthur Kinoy, David Cole, Abdeen Jabara, Franklin
Siegel, Barbara Olshansky, Denise Reinhardt, Paul Schachter, Shayana
Kadidal, Anna Liza Gavieres, and Janice Badalutz.
I also wish to thank everyone who generously volunteered their time
to assist in the researching, proofreading, citation checking, and editing
of this book. I am especially indebted to my dear friend of more than
two decades, Barry Bennett, and to Greg Diamond, Bryan Gunderson,
Julie Rivchin, Justin Weyerhaeuser, and Pavani Yalamanchili, friends I
have made through the Center for Constitutional Rights’ student
internship program, for their outstanding and invaluable contributions.
In addition, I wish to thank the individuals with whom I have had the
privilege of working toward the goal of preserving our civil liberties in
the post–September 11 world. Included among their ranks are attorneys,
political activists, grassroots organizers, labor organizers, lobbyists,
representatives of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities in the
United States, journalists, university professors, schoolteachers, students,
firefighters, artists, and ordinary Americans. While their areas of concern
are diverse, they are united in their determination to resist the rollback
of our political and personal freedoms.
Finally, I wish to thank my editor, Greg Ruggiero, who founded the
Open Media Pamphlet Series in 1991, and who skillfully shepherded this
project through from its conception to its actualization with a boundless
enthusiasm. I am grateful to Greg and to Dan Simon, the publisher of
Seven Stories Press, for their support of this project, for their creative
vision, and for bringing forward views not aired in the mainstream press.
Their Open Media Books broaden the terms of political discourse and
encourage democracy to thrive.