After Upton Sinclair, famed author of The Jungle, was arrested for reading the First Amendment on Liberty Hill in 1923, The Nation commented: "When we contemplate the antics of the chief of police of Los Angeles, we are deterred from characterizing him as an ass only through fear that such a comparison would lay us open to damages from every self-respecting donkey." In this lively history of our most fundamental and perhaps most vulnerable right, Chris Finan traces the lifeline of free speech from the War on Terror back to the turn of the last century. During the YMCA's 1892 Suppression of Vice campaign, muttonchopped moralist Anthony Comstock railed against writings by that "Irish smut dealer" George Bernard Shaw. In the midst of the country's first Red Scare, the government rounded up thousands of Russian Americans for deportation during the Palmer raids. Decades later, a second Red Scare gripped the country as Senator Joseph McCarthy spearheaded a witch-hunt for "egg-sucking liberals" who defended "Communists and queers." Finan's dramatic review of such touchstones as the Scopes trial and Edward R. Murrow's challenge to Joseph McCarthy are revelatory; many of his narratives are entirely fresh and have as much relevance to our postndash;PATRIOT Act world as his final chapter on the twenty-first century. The story of the fight for free speech, in times of war and peace-when writers, publishers, booksellers, and librarians are often on the front lines-is essential reading. "Christopher Finan has given us a marvelously readable account of the struggle for free speech in the United States. Beginning with the birth of the American civil liberties movement during World War I, Finan traces the often grueling battles over free speech in wartime, book censorhip, McCarthyism, and freedom of the press that have marked the gradual evolution of American freedom. It is a story every American should know, for it is our nation's greatest achievement." -Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism "The Founding Fathers gave us the First Amendment, but we have had to fight for free speech. Radicals, reactionaries, feminists, religious zealots, African Americans, Klansmen, college students, even schoolchildren, have played a role in expanding free speech. They are all present in Chris Finan's colorful narrative, which shows how much progress we have made-and how far we have to go." -Nadine Strossen, President of the American Civil Liberties Union and Professor of Law, New York Law School "In this masterful work, Chris Finan deftly chronicles the challenges to free speech in the twentieth century; an accessible, thought provoking history that not only informs, but also engages the reader." -Joyce Meskis, Owner, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver "Concisely detailed and researched, From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act reads like high powered fiction. Characters as diverse as Roger Baldwin, Bernie Sanders, Allen Ginsberg, Fatty Arbuckle, Jane Russell, Anthony Comstock, John Ashcroft and Dwight Eisenhower share the stage to tell the tale of a nation at odds with its Puritan heritage. A timely addition to bookshelves as the United States wrestles with issues of privacy and personal freedoms in an age of terrorism tied to an unpopular war." -Kenton Oliver, Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair, the American Library Association "American history is marred by recurrent episodes of hate-Red scares, super-patriotism, fear of sexual expression. Christopher Finan brilliantly paints that record, and shows how courageous Americans have fought for freedom." -Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and Make No Law Chris Finan is the president of the American Booksell

The history of the United States is, in large part, the history of its Landmark Legislation. In this series, the authors take the reader behind the scenes to show the drama that led to each bill's being passed and the effect each piece of legislation has had in the development of our country. Each book includes an informative "From Bill to Law" feature, which explains in easy-to-follow fashion how the process of legislation works. Patriot Act tells the story of how the events of September 11, 2001, led to the bill officially known as the USA PATRIOT Act, and the controversy over civil liberties versus national security that has been debated ever since. Book jacket.

Takes the reader behind the Patriot Act to show the drama that led to the bill being passed and the effect it had in the development of our country.

This book will provide the reader with a chronological review of the Supreme Court jurisprudence on the Commander-in-Chief power of the President and how the Court developed and enforced the boundaries around the height, depth, and width of that power over the past two centuries.

The horrendous events of September 11, 2001, heightened awareness of terrorism unlike all but a handful of major catastrophes in American history. Like the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and President Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, 9/11 is a date forever enshrined in our national memory. But 9/11 once again raised the question: What should government do to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of a future attack? How should national leadership balance its responsibility to protect the civil liberties of U.S. citizens with its sworn duty to protect their lives? In The Safety of the Kingdom, J. Michael Martinez takes up the question of how the United States government has responded to terrorist attacks and, in the absence of an attack, the fear of foreign and subversive elements that may harm the nation. In some cases, the government “overreaction” led to a series of abuses that amplified the severity of the original threat. Rather than selecting every instance of government reaction to threats, Martinez examines representative cases, from the alien and sedition acts in the eighteenth century to the post-9/11 “war on terror.” Edward Snowden’s disclosure of classified information related to the NSA’s surveillance program brought to the fore an important debate about government scrutiny of its citizens. As J. Michael Martinez makes clear in this book, it is a debate that has been ongoing for centuries. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Provides an account of the events that took place on September 11, 2001, the people involved, and what is being done to prevent further attacks.

Scientific Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: C, National University of Juridical Sciences (National University of Juridical Sciences), 15 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Against the backdrop of the horrendous happenings of 11th September,2001 the American Congress, cloaked in fear capitulated to the Bush administration's demand for a new anti-terror law by overlooking the tumultuous objections from the civil liberties organization from both ends of the political spectrum. The Congress approved the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, which is better known by its acronym the U.S.A PATRIOT ACT with an overwhelming majority of 356 votes to 66 in the House and 98 votes to one in the U.S Senate1. In the process the Congress brushed aside a more promising anti-terrorism bill that the House Judiciary Committee had unanimously approved, that would have addressed a number of civil liberties concerns. The complex and far reaching legislation was drafted hastily and without being subjected to much debates and discussion or conferences or committee reports that any other significant act would undergo was signed and made a law by the president of the United States, George W. Bush on 26th October 2001. This essay deals with the implications of U.S.A. patriot act on human rights.