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Book Review: Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy
By Susan N. Herman
By Susan N. HermanOxford University Press (2011)Reviewed by Jon M. Sands
We have marked the 10th anniversary of September 11th. We commemorated the terrible and tragic date with mourning, eulogies, and reflection. The site of the former World Trade Towers has become sacred, and the dead are memorialized in the best traditions of this country. It was also a date that ushered in the “War of Terror” and “The Patriot Act,” reactions that are also in the traditions of this nation, but not in a laudatory way. The waves of fear, hysteria, and prejudice that rolled through the country swept up Americans and non-Americans both, who, although innocent of terror involvement, were deemed guilty by association, bias, or simply happenstance. The casualties of this reaction are the subject of Taking Liberties.
In this accounting of the government’s reaction to terrorist attacks, Susan Herman, a professor of constitutional law and the President of the ACLU, tells stories. She does
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