U.S. and Texas Politics and Constitution Civil Liberties I February 3, 2015 J. Bryan Cole POLS 1336

What are Civil Liberties? Definition: “constitutionally established guarantees that protect citizens, opinions, and property against arbitrary government interference” (p. 110) Limitations placed on the government, usually from infringing upon certain rights afforded to individuals

Examples of Civil Liberties

Examples of Civil Liberties

Constrasting Civil Liberties and Civil Rights “Freedom to” – Civil liberties restrain the government Liberties are best enjoyed when the government does not interfere with them “Freedom from” – Civil rights empower the government to act The government must step in to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected

Overview American history as a struggle between competing interests What are the two competing interests involved in civil liberties?

Fourth Amendment “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Where do you see this issue coming up in everyday life?

Common Applications of the Fourth Amendment – 8:30

Common Applications of the Fourth Amendment

Additional Discussion of the Fourth Amendment Constitutional Conversation - The Fourth Amendment What is the broad goal of the 4th Amendment?

“To insure domestic tranquility…” 9/11 reopened a long debate concerning freedom v. security The government adopted many new measures to prevent another terrorist attack

President Bush and Post 9/11 Civil Liberties “From the beginning, I knew the public reaction to my decisions would be colored by whether there was another attack. If none happened, whatever I did would probably look like an overreaction. If we were attacked again, people would demand to know why I hadn’t done more” (p. 180).

USA Patriot Act Full name: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act Intended to facilitate and streamline the ability of law enforcement and intelligent agencies to share information, tearing down what was known as “the wall”

USA Patriot Act Controversial provisions (not all of them): Roving wiretaps Freezing financial aspects of suspected terrorists Access to business and library records through warrants Parts of it (including these provisions) renewed in 2005 and 2010

National Security Agency AKA “No Such Agency” Job is to intercept overseas conversations between terrorists, but there were some loopholes President Bush controversially sought to streamline the process through the use of warrantless wiretapping, revealed in 2005

The NSA in the Obama Administration The Guardian (a London newspaper) reveals that the NSA has been collecting from Verizon “metadata” about phone calls Foreign Surveillance Intelligence (FISA) Court secretly granted this authority to the FBI Eventually, Edward Snowden authorized The Guardian to reveal himself as the leaker Not surprisingly, these revelations have renewed this ongoing freedom v. security debate

Reactions to the News Many members of Congress from both political parties have been outraged Recent polling data on the NSA reveal deep divisions among Americans Several attempts are now underway to rein in the NSA

Lawsuits Private citizens challenge NSA Washington D.C. New York Private citizens challenge NSA Judge Richard Leon describes the program as “almost Orwellian” American Civil Liberties Union v. United States Judge William Pauley sides with the NSA

Presidential Commission on the NSA Last August, President Obama established a panel of experts to make recommendations for reforms at the NSA The panel issued recommendations in early 2014; Obama news conference on his reactions, dated Jan. 17, 2014

Discussion Questions Do you think that the NSA is overstepping its authority and infringing upon your civil liberties? Why or why not? Suppose that you are President. Would you support these NSA activities?

Support Oppose Not sure Do you support or oppose the federal government program in which all phone calls are scanned to see if any calls are going to a phone number linked to terrorism? Support Oppose Not sure