In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror [Hardcover]

Anthony D. Romero (Author), Dina Temple-Raston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2007

From Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, and award-winning journalist Dina Temple-Raston, In Defense of Our America takes a critical look at civil liberties in this country at a time when constitutional freedoms are in peril. Using the stories of real Americans on the frontlines of the fight for civil liberties, In Defense of Our America provides a look at the dangerous erosion of the Bill of Rights in the age of terror. Against the backdrop of post-9/11 America, readers are taken behind the scenes of some of the most important civil liberties cases in America. From the story of the "American Taliban" to the battle against the National Security Agency's warrantless spying program, In Defense of Our America tracks a roster of skirmishes in the larger fight for civil liberties in this country. It tracks an effort in Pennsylvania to force religion into the public school science curriculum and tells the story of South Dakota's attempts to place an outright ban on abortions in the state.In a narrative that allows the characters to tell the story, In Defense of Our America offers the first inside look at the Lindh family as they saw their son and brother, John Walker Lindh, emerge as a symbol of America's battle against Islamic fundamentalism. It follows Joshua Dratel, a defense attorney at the center of many legal battles over the rights of individuals suspected of terrorism, and tells the story of a modern-day Scopes trial in Dover, Pennsylvania. The book tracks the case of Matthew Limon, a gay teenager sentenced to seventeen years for having consensual oral sex with a younger teenage boy in Kansas, and looks behind the reports of a broken judicial system in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In Defense of Our America chronicles the stories of an array of colorful characters to illustrate the state of play in today's fight for civil liberties, including Cecelia Fire Thunder, the Sioux president who wanted to open an abortion clinic on her South Dakota reservation, and high school science teacher Bertha Spahr, who defied a school board dominated by fundamentalist Christians by taking a stand against "intelligent design." With unparalleled access to key players in some of the landmark tests of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, In Defense of Our America weaves together a compelling narrative that provides an unusually full look at the fight for civil liberties as Americans struggle to protect their rights and ensure their security.

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* One of the ironies of the war in Iraq and the "war on terror" is the disconnect between the administration's rhetoric about fighting for freedom for people in foreign lands and the simultaneous trampling on the liberties of people here at home. Using the 9/11 terrorist attacks as its shield and überpatriotism as its guide, the administration's pursuit of national security is often at odds with basic Bill of Rights principles. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, and journalist Temple-Raston provide compelling behind-the-scenes accounts of such significant cases as the capture of John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan, the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretap program, the battle to introduce intelligent design into public school curricula, and the destruction of New Orleans' penal and judicial systems in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Told with narrative flair, Romero and Temple-Raston's harrowing chronicle of America's tenuous hold on basic human rights is not a leftist apologia or liberal screed but rather a critically balanced yet hard-hitting analysis of the threats to our civil rights as perceived by individuals on the front lines of each issue. With the clock running out on the current administration and 2008 presidential campaign rhetoric already in full swing, this cautionary tale of humanitarian missteps and misdeeds makes for timely—and timeless—reading. Haggas, Carol
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Anthony D. Romero is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, the nation's premier defender of liberty and individual freedom. An attorney with a history of public-interest activism, Romero was named one of Time magazine's Twenty-five Most Influential Hispanics in America and has received dozens of public service awards and an honorary doctorate from the City University of New York School of Law. He is a member of the New York Bar Association and has sat on numerous nonprofit boards. Currently a producer for CNN-FN, Dina Temple-Raston has worked as a foreign correspondent in China and Hong Kong, a White House reporter for Bloomburg Business News, and a correspondent for USA Today. She lives in New York City. Michael Prichard has played several thousand characters during his career. While he has been seen performing over one hundred of them in theater and film, Michael is primarily heard, having recorded well over five hundred full-length books. During his career as a one-man repertory company, he has recorded many series with running characters---including the complete Travis McGee adventures by John D. MacDonald and the complete Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout---as well as series by such masters as Mark Twain, John Cheever, and John Updike. His numerous awards and accolades include an Audie Award for Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman and several AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for At All Costs by Sam Moses and In Nixon's Web by L. Patrick Gray III. Named a Top Ten Golden Voice by SmartMoney magazine, he holds an M.F.A. in theater from the University of Southern California. Michael appears regularly on the professional stage, including as a member of Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company, performing such great roles as Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451, which became the second-longest-running production in the Los Angeles area. Bradbury himself dubbed Michael "the finest Beatty in history."

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (May 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061142565
• ISBN-13: 978-0061142567
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You should read this book., July 11, 2007

By 

Francisco Montalvo (Seattle, WA - United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror (Hardcover)

I watched Anthony Romero on CSPAN2 BookTV pitching this book at a book show in Chicago. He recommended it as a book you might give someone who rolls his eyes at you when you say you support the ACLU.

The book is a good consolidation of how civil liberties have become victims in the war on terror. I'm a politically moderate, active duty military officer and didn't start reading this book until I was convinced that I could do it with an open mind. By that I mean that I sought to eliminate most prejudicial skepticism, since I don't believe any human being can eliminate all of it.

The book hops back and forth a bit, sometimes making it hard to follow. But knowing that the book is designed to be a fairly concise synopsis for a skeptical audience makes me understand why he did it this way. If you dwell on the same subject to long and the reader disagrees with the author, perhaps you can keep the reader engaged by mixing the stories.

The one annoying thing that Mr. Romero does in his book pertains to the abortion argument. He seemingly laments when an abortionist is referred to as a "baby-killer", but in turn summarizes anyone who opposes abortion as "anti-choice" and "the Jerry Falwells." In my opinion, intelligent discussion precludes the use of loaded language, as it only serves to get an emotional rise out of people. I am disgusted by Pro-Lifers who call Pro-Choicers murderers just as I am disgusted by Pro-Choicers who call Pro-Lifers crusaders or fascists. My personal jury is still out on the abortion issue, and when I listen to so many people with an inability to argue without exchanging barbs, I remember why.

The only other thing that I'd like to add is that Mr. Romero rightfully criticizes former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for his role in justifying torture and inhumane treatment of detainees. But I do object to Mr. Romero claiming that Mr. Rumsfeld believed himself above reproach since he was not at Abu Graib when the torture happened. This book was published in 2007 after Secretary Rumsfelf was replaced; towards the end of 2006 it came to light that Secretary Rumsfeld had offered his resignation twice during his tenure and one of those times being quite specifically for the Abu Graib incident. The President rejected the requests both times. This does not mitigate Mr. Rumsfeld's culpability in the matter, but it does speak to his recognition of his responsibility.

Conclusively, it was a good book that leaves me with the desire to learn more about several topics of government and gave me a better appreciation for something that I have known since I took my oath of service: that we must defend our country and our ideals, but we must also ensure that we maintain our country and our ideals worth defending.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable but disjointed, July 7, 2007

By 

Philip (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror (Hardcover)

This is a very readable account of civil rights battles in the time since 9/11, covering specific stories on gay rights, wiretapping, intelligent design, etc. In the preface the authors state it is meant to "read like a novel" and it is an easy and interesting read that most could finish in a couple of days.

My major complaint is that the stories are intertwined for no good effect. After a paragraph on intelligent design, the story suddenly jumps to torture. The entire book plays out this way, jumping back and forth among 5 or 6 stories. While this technique can work in film and novels, with nonfiction it gives me mental whiplash. It would be far better to keep like subject matter together-- indeed, in the references they do just this. So why not in the text?

My other minor complaint is that I would have preferred more detail and reasoning. However, this book does seem to aim at the widest possible audience, and those who follow civil rights may be slightly disappointed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book, January 23, 2008

By 

Paul Lappen (Manchester, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror (Hardcover)

This book looks at the current state of civil liberties in America, by exploring case studies of several different types of cases.

Matthew Limon is a gay teenager from Kansas who was sentenced to a seventeen-year prison term for having consensual sex with a boy three years younger. If his sex partner had been female, the sentence would have been much less. As a way to lessen the impact of a proposed total abortion ban in South Dakota, Cecilia Fire Thunder, the President of the Sioux Nation, advocated putting an abortion clinic on Sioux land. The school board of Dover, Pennsylvania attempted to force the local high school to include "intelligent design" into the biology curriculum. A middle-age science teacher named Bertha Spahr led the fight against the plan. Kot Hordynski is part of a non-violent anti-war group at the University of California, Santa Clara. The Pentagon put him on a terrorist watch list and called him a "credible threat."

Before anyone thinks that the American Civil Liberties Union, of which Romero is the Executive Director, is an anti-conservative or anti-Catholic group, consider: the ACLU defended Rush Limbaugh's right to privacy when prosecutors wanted his medical records to prosecute his drug bust; they argued that anti-abortion protestors have a right to march and be heard; the ACLU stood up for Oliver North's constitutional rights during Iran-Contra; when a high school senior wanted to put a quote from the Bible in her yearbook, the ACLU argued that she had a right to free speech-even religious speech. Also, the ACLU helped strike the provision in the Virginia constitution that denied Jerry Falwell's church the right to incorporate in Virginia.

This is a gem of a book. It does a good job of showing how civil liberties were not in good shape, entangling average people, even before 9/11; since then, things have gotten noticeably worse. It is very much worth reading.