Since the passage of the 2001 PATRIOT Act, the United States has become increasingly monitored and militarized at the expense of civil liberties. The 2012 passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has allowed the military to detain indefinitely without trial any US citizen that the government labels a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism, while President Barack Obama’s signing of the National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order has authorized widespread federal and military control of the national economy and resources during “emergency and non-emergency conditions.” Since 2010, the Department of Homeland Security’s If You See Something, Say Something™ campaign has encouraged the public to report all suspicious activity to local authorities, even though actions that the DHS identifies as “suspicious” include the constitutionally protected right to criticize the government or engage in nonviolent protest.

Censored News Cluster: The Police State and Civil Liberties

Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, “Read the FBI Memo: Agents Can ‘Suspend the Law,’” Wired, March 28, 2012 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/fbi-memo-bend-suspend-law/

James Bamford, “The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say),” Wired, March 15, 2012, http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter.

Chris Hedges, “Why I’m Suing Barack Obama,” Truthdig, January 16, 2012, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_im_suing_barack_obama_20120116.

White House, Executive Order: National Defense Resources Preparedness, Office of the Press Secretary, March 16, 2012, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order-national-defense-resources-preparedness.

White House, “Statement by the President on H.R. 1540,” Office of the Press Secretary, December 31, 2011, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/31/statement-president-hr-1540.

http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2012/04/12/signs-of-an-emerging-police-state/

Student Researcher: Robert Usher (San Francisco State University)

Faculty Evaluator: Kenn Burrows (San Francisco State University)

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