Assessing the New Normal: Liberty and Security for the Post-September 11
United States

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Two years after the terror attacks of 9/11, the relationship between the U.S. government and the people it serves has dramatically changed; this “new normal” of U.S. governance is defined by “the loss of particular freedoms for some, and worse, a detachment from the rule of law as a whole,” a new report by the Human Rights First finds.

Report by Chapter

Introduction

Executive Summary

Chapter One: Open Government

This chapter examines how the U.S. government operates under a framework of increased secrecy that encompasses both specific initiatives and a more general pattern of less openness about the way important executive branch decisions are made. The chapter discusses:

• Rollbacks of the Freedom of Information Act that could limit public access to important health, safety and environmental information.
• The USA PATRIOT Act and the proposed Victory Act.
• The executive’s increased powers to classify information -- and to withhold information without the formal process of classification.
• Executive branch efforts to restrict congressional access to information.
• Growing bi-partisan Congressional concern that too much secrecy may well result in less security.
• Increased deference of the courts to executive branch secrecy.

This chapter discusses the expansion of government power to pry into Americans’ private lives, including:

• The USA PATRIOT Act and the easing of restrictions on government searches and seizures, including searches targeted at library and other consumer records.
• The lifting of limits on foreign intelligence and domestic spying powers.
• The expansion of government data-gathering efforts and the Terrorism Information Awareness program.
• The Terrorist Threat Integration Center.
• The establishment of air passenger profiling.

Chapter Three: Immigrants, Refugees and Minorities

This chapter covers shifts in U.S. policy on immigrants and refugees, including:

• The Justice Department’s moves to increase state and local participation in the enforcement of federal immigration law.
• New hardships for refugees seeking asylum.
• The effects of the administration’s now-terminated blanket registration and information-gathering programs; and the treatment of the post-9/11 detainees.

Chapter Four: Unclassified Detainees

This chapter analyzes the executive’s new blended system of criminal law enforcement and military detention - a system the report describes as a “mix and match” approach. The chapter includes:

• Discussions of the military detention of U.S. citizens (Jose Padilla and Yaser Hamdi) without access to counsel.
• The president’s proposed military commissions.
• The applicability and interpretation of the Geneva Conventions for the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war (including those held at Guantanamo).
• The absence of judicial oversight in many of these cases.

Chapter Five: The United States and International Human Rights

This chapter canvasses how opportunistic governments have relied cynically on the U.S. “war on terrorism” as a basis for internal repression of domestic opponents. It also analyzes how U.S. actions have encouraged other countries to disregard domestic and international law. And the chapter discusses how political refugees are bearing the brunt of the new international climate as countries from Australia to France treat all immigrants, including refugees seeking asylum, as security risks.

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