Taking Liberties

Susan N. Herman became president of the American Civil Liberties Union in 2008 after serving on its national board for twenty years. A constitutional scholar and chaired professor at Brooklyn Law School, she is the co-editor (with Paul Finkelman) of Terrorism, Government, and Law and the author of The Right to a Speedy and Public Trial.

Introduction ; PART I: DRAGNETS AND WATCHLISTS ; Chapter 1 The Webmaster and the Football Player ; The Material Support Dragnet ; The Football Player ; The Material Support and Material Witness Dragnets ; Chapter 2. <"Foreign Terrorist Organizations,>" Humanitarians, ; and the First Amendment ; The Iranian Democrat ; Peacemakers and Humanitarians ; Chapter 3. Charity at Home ; The Campaign against Charities ; Collateral Damage to Freedom of Religion and Association ; Chapter 4 Traveling with Terror ; Watching the Watchlists ; Security Theater? ; The Rights of Others ; Chapter 5 Banks and Databanks ; Financial Institutions as TIPSters ; Watchlists and the Private Sector ; Does It Work? ; Collecting the Dots ; Why Should I Care? - Privacy and Democracy ; PART II - SURVEILLANCE AND SECRECY ; Chapter 6 Gutting the Fourth Amendment ; The Fourth Amendment and Terrorism ; <"Foreign>" Intelligence Surveillance, Americans, and the Patriot Act ; Mayfield v. United States Part II ; The Secret Court and the One-Sided Litigation ; A Job for Congress and the Courts ; Chapter 7 The Patriot Act and Library/Business Records ; American Librarians ; Judicial Fumbling ; Third Party Records and the Fourth Amendment ; Reconsidering the <"Library Provision>" ; Chapter 8 Gagging the Librarians ; The Library Connection ; Other Librarian Tales ; Chapter 9 John Doe and the National Security Letter ; Why National Security Letters? ; John Doe and Victor Marrero ; Loosening the Gag ; Fourth Amendment Rights for NSL Recipients ; First Amendment Rights for Internet Users ; The Inspector General Exposes 2007-2010 ; National Security Letters, the Fourth Amendment, and Congress ; Chapter 10 The President's Surveillance Program ; In the Halls of the Department of Justice ; The Rubber Stamp Congress ; Closing the Courthouse Doors ; Post-FAA Litigation ; The Secret Court Strikes Again ; <"What Else Is It That We Don't Know?>" ; PART III: RESTORING CHECKS AND BALANCES ; Chapter 11 American Democracy - The President, the Congress, and the Courts ; The View from the Oval Office - From Bush to Obama and Beyond ; The Sleeping Watchdog ; Secrecy and the Courts ; The Eclipse of the Courts ; Conclusion ; Ordinary Americans ; Restoring Balance