Fbi Investigation Of First Amendment Activities

A review of the FBI's investigation of possible international terrorism activities to determine: the basis on which the FBI was opening investigations; the scope and results of the investigations; whether the FBI had monitored First Amendment activities during the investigations; and the reasons the investigations were closed. Charts and tables.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This review was initiated in response to concerns over whether the FBI had improperly targeted domestic advocacy groups for investigation based solely upon their exercise of First Amendment rights. FBI investigative activity was reviewed relating to five groups and one individual: The Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh, PA; The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); Greenpeace USA; The Catholic Worker Movement; Greenpeace and The Catholic Worker at Vandenburg Air Force Base; and Glen Milner (a ¿Quaker¿ or Religious Society of Friends peace activist).

Tracing the history of government intrusions on Constitutional rights in response to threats from abroad, Cole and Dempsey warn that a society in which civil liberties are sacrificed in the name of national security is in fact less secure than one in which they are upheld. A new chapter includes a discussion of domestic spying, preventive detention, the many court challenges to post-9/11 abuses, implementation of the PATRIOT ACT, and efforts to reestablish the checks and balances left behind in the rush to strengthen governmental powers.