Articles by Lynne A. Williams

This isn’t the article I planned to write. My initial idea was to analyze the Patriot Act, especially the way this law has given license to federal, state, and local law enforcement to curtail due process protections by blurring the line, more fluid than ever, between what law enforcement can do in the name of foreign intelligence and during a domestic criminal investigation.

However, the end of 2003 brought even more bad news about civil liberties and the First Amendment. In response, my cautionary narrative about what might happen if we don’t pressure Congress to repeal the Patriot Act became a chronicle of recent events that should send a chill up the spines of all who believe in the US Constitution. It’s no longer a matter of what might happen, but what is already happening. read more