Synopses & Reviews
In the wake of September 11, John Ashcroft’s Justice Department has presided over an unprecedented assault on the civil liberties established in the Bill of Rights. Enacted in haste and, at times, in partial secrecy, the legislation and orders have not been carefully examined, and their implications are only now beginning to surface. Not since the internment of Japanese Americans during the 1940s have we witnessed such abridgment of American rights.
While the loss of liberties has been met with apathy by the press and public alike, the lawyers and analysts in Lost Liberties provide a detailed, comprehensive look at the USA Patriot Act, chronicling the destructive impact of crackdowns on thousands of Americans and revisiting the ugly history of political repression in times of crisis. Featuring original contributions from David Cole, Michael Tomasky, Nancy Chang, Kenneth Roth, and Anthony Romero, Lost Liberties will be a critical text for those who want to know in advance the long-term implications of these drastic measures.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [255]-302) and index.
About the Author
Cynthia Brown, former program director of Human Rights Watch, is now a freelance consultant and editor based in New York.
Table of Contents
pt. 1. Tools for a new kind of war. The course of least resistance : repeating history in the war on terrorism / David Cole -- How democracy dies : the war on our civil liberties / Nancy Chang -- After 9/11 : a surveillance state? / Reg Whitaker -- pt. 2. The Ashcroft approach. Secret arrests and preventive detention / Kate Martin -- Racial profiling post-9/11 : old story, new debate / Tanya E. Coke -- Living in fear : how the U.S. government's war on terror impacts American lives / Anthony D. Romero -- The war on terrorism : the Guantâanamo prisoners, military commissions, and torture / Michael Ratner -- Breaking the code, or, Can the press be saved from itself? / Michael Tomasky -- pt. 3. Privacy, secrecy, and public health. Balancing in a crisis? : Bioterrorism, public health, and privacy / Janlori Goldman -- The public health fallout from September 11 : official deception and long-term damage / Joel R. Kupferman -- pt. 4. Global threat, global citizen. Axis of antagonism : U.S.-European relations in the war on terrorism / Gary Younge -- The "war on terror" and women's rights : a Pakistan-Afghan perspective / Farida Shaheed -- Human rights, the Bush administration, and the fight against terrorism : the need for a positive vision / Kenneth Roth.