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

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Nancy Chang's concise summary of post 9/11 developments is an excellent primer on how dissent has been repressed and silenced in the name of anti-terrorism and how "patriotism" has been twisted into something resembling a Mccarthyite witch-hunt. She focuses on the USA PATRIOT Act, and her legal analysis of the profound unconstitutionality of some of its provisions is chilling. Her legal analysis is acute and accurate (she is the senior litigation lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights in NYC). Among other things, attorney-client communications are now being monitored if the client is suspected or accused of "terrorist" activities. The term "terrorism" has been so expanded and amplified by this Act as to make it applicable to many activities not normally considered to be within its ambit, as Ms. Chang details. This is a timely, up-to-the-minute introduction, and urgent reading for everyone concerned with the assault on civil rights now taking place in the guise of fighting "terrorism."

Nancy Chang of the Center For Constitutional Rights has prepared a concise summary and analysis of the USA PATRIOT Act and other initiatives that follow the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. This is crucial background material for any debate on the measures taken by the Bush Administration in response to terror.

In addition, Chang has placed the USA PATRIOT Act in a historical context, reminding of us other cases in which our Republic has suspended common sense along with our democratic principles as a response to fear. It is important to understand that Attorney General John Ashcroft did not invent preventive detention, and that George W. Bush is not the first president to resent elements of the Constitution he is charged to defend.

Dispassionately and tersely, Chang exposes the articles of the USA PATRIOT Act, the number of detainees and the treatment of non-citizens, the quest for authority to snoop on innocents and gather information on law-abiding citizens, the monitoring of conversations between client and attorney, the use of patriotism to demonize dissidents, and the unquestionable grab for power by the executive branch. The book is high on information, including good documentary footnotes and solid research; and low on rhetoric. This enhances its credibility and its strength in a time of confusion.

The author approaches her subject in somewhat technical legal terms, but it is straightforward enough that anyone can understand the implications as Nancy Chang offers clear insight into the dismantling of our Constitutional Rights.

With the author's keen perception and understanding, she is able to take you through the most controversial changes in the new post 9-11 legislation, and allow you to see how easily the Patriot Act *could be abused* to turn rightful protest to fit the crime of 'terrorism'.

The book investigates how these new laws give our new 'militarized' government unprecedented new powers NEVER INTENDED by our founding fathers, and how the current Bush/Ashcroft administration is bunkering itself behind a cloak of secrecy in which information is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to obtain by the public, and even by Congress itself.

The idea that the government can simply put a certain 'label' on a person, thereby circumventing the normal due process of law should be revolting to all, not to mention that it's un-American and defies the protection guaranteed in the Bill of Rights for ALL, regardless of race, religion or ethic background.

It is likely that many of you believe these changes don't affect you as individuals. Don't kid yourself partner. You ARE already affected and it is clear that America itself, and the founding principles upon which it supposedly stands for, are the real losers in all of this.

Since trying to read the Patriot Act itself would be an excercise in futility. I suggest you pick up this very useful book.

If you're in the mood for a good scare, this will do you. It's amazing how fragile our liberties are, and how one little decision can place them in harm's way.

I definantly recommend this, regardless of the current climates, for a better understanding of the ways our liberties have been abused in the past, and how easily our privacy can be invaded without our even knowing.

Though this little booklet may soon be overtaken by events, it's a fine reality check for where we are at the moment. As Chang makes clear, Patriot Act I renders the Fourth Amendment meaningless, at the same time it strips non-citizens of due process and constitutional guarantees. And though the text does at times read like a legal brief, the details are provided in succinct fashion that should alarm anyone concerned with safeguards against tyranny, whatever the source. Moreover, the threat promises to worsen as Ashcroft readies a sequel to PAI, further blurring the line between dissent and terrorism. Despite appearances, this is not a partisan issue. We all stand to lose unless we stand up for constitutional government and the right to dissent. Chang's represents a handy and inexpensive status report, that should be the duty of every citizen to read and act on.

Nancy Chang's book, Silencing Political Dissent, becomes increasingly relevant with the re-election of this administration and recent security breaches with commercial databases. Ms. Chang predicted in 2002 that "With the advent of electronic record-keeping, the FBI is likely to maintain far more dossiers on law-abiding individuals and to disseminate the dossiers far more widely than during the COINTELPRO era." Commerical database companies are composing life pictures of individuals which are then sold to other businesses as well as government entities which might otherwise be restricted in the information collected.

Nancy Chang's Silencing Political Dissent is a brilliant look into US history and current political agendas. Through her analysis of the Patriot Act , Chang is able to suggest to the reader the ways in which the newly militarized government is attempting to gain more power and less accountability through silencing the public and being secretive. The Patriot Act takes away constitutional rights and makes the fourth amendment null and void. This book allows the reader to look at the current "war on terror" in comparison to some historical events. Chang conveys the importance of this act by allowing the reader to imagine the implications that rightful protest could be considered terrorism and a person could be denied due process because of race, religion, or ethnicity. Most importantly, this book outlines the many steps that have been taken to deny rights to people showing a disregard for democracy and all that our country stands for.

In this very readable account of the months following 9/11, Chang covers a tremendous range of historical, political, and legal analysis. This book will make you reevaluate the way the government and the people of this country have responded to the terrible events of last year and question who poses the greatest threat to the freedoms that make the U.S. great. This book is a must-read for anybody interested in civil liberties.

In this brief and lucid book, Nancy Chang exposes how the USA Patriot Act and other post September 11th responses by the Bush regime constitute a flagrant assault on American civil liberties and constitutional rights. Chang places her findings in a sharp historical context by providing a brief survey of similar events in American history, including the jailing and detention of innocent people as far back as the immediate aftermath of the Revolutionary War. Chang concludes that while the Bush regime's purported anti-terrorist measures definitely provide it with a variety of legal pretexts to persecute American citizens and non-citizens at will, (for example, the authoring of this review could constitute a threat to public safety under several of the USA Patriot Act's broad definitions of "domestic terrorism") it does little or nothing to actually protect people living in the United States from terrorist attacks.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of Chang's study is its revelation that America's theocratic Attorney General, John Ashcroft has detained hundreds of Arabs and South Asians living in America for minor immigration violations. These individuals have frequently been incarcerated under highly abusive conditions and some have died in custody. Ashcroft's goal, according to Chang, is to use immigration violations as a sweeping drag net for capturing any foreign terrorists who, like many of the September 11th suicide bombers, may have violated their visa requirements. Even if one is willing to turn a blind eye to the fate of the hundreds of innocent immigrants who have already suffered under this policy, one cannot ignore its broader consequences for the American people. History has shown that in places like Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and earlier situations in America, providing the government with broad, unaccountable authority generally results in global not local patterns of abuse. A government that is interested in persecuting immigrants today may go after anyone else it doesn't like tomorrow. And even if Ashcroft succeeds in rooting out all terrorists who have visa problems, this will not protect America from the likes of Timothy McVeigh.

Finally, Ashcroft's policy just doesn't add up when you consider Chang's stunning revelation that the Bush administration used provisions of the USA Patriot act to quash a congressional investigation into the fact that in early 2001, the INS extended the visas of two of the September 11th terrorists including the alleged ring leader, Mohamed Atta. That's right, despite the fact that these guys were on terrorist watch lists, our government provided them with the legal means to remain in this country, but George W. Bush says that in order to protect us he can't let our elected officials publicly examine how our government could make such a catastrophic error. It seems that with these new anti terrorist measures, the government isn't interested in protecting us so much as expanding its own power and eliminating any accountability.

My only complaint about this book is that it is written and structured like a tedious legal brief, which is understandable since Chang is a veteran litigation attorney. Despite this minor peccadillo, "Silencing Political Dissent" is an important book that should be read by all U.S. citizens and non-citizens.

You are free to do as we tell you. War is peace. You are free to do as we tell you. Freedom is slavery. You are free to do as we tell you. Ignorance is strength. You are free to do as we tell you. Go back to bed America....