Foreword by Howard Zinn Just six weeks after 11 September, a jittery Congress overwhelmingly approved the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, better known as The USA PATRIOT Act. This hastily drafted and far-reaching legislation, despite vigorous objections from civil liberties organisations, was passed with virtually no public hearing or debate. In this concise text, Chang explains how the new law erodes civil liberties and privacy, and severely impacts immigration.

Author Biography

Nancy Chang is the Senior Litigation Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City. Nancy's work at CCR has focused on protecting the First Amendment rights of political activists against government efforts to silence dissent, safeguarding civil liberties against measures taken in the name of national security, protecting the constitutional rights of immigrants and combating racial profiling. Howard Zinn, a famed historian and activist, is the author of the best-selling and critically acclaimed A People's History of the United States and ten other books including the Zinn Reader (also available from Turnaround) and Against War (available soon from Turnaround). He has received the Eugene V. Debs and Lannan Foundation Awards for his work.