Hell no : your right to dissent in 21st-century America

Title:

Author:

Ratner, Michael, 1943-2016

ISBN:

9781595585400

Publication Information:

New York, NY : New Press, The, c2011.

Physical Description:

xii, 164 p. : forms ; 21 cm.

General Note:

"Includes chapters on what today's activists must know about the threats posed by federal law enforcement agents and their tactics, as well as the actual text of the recently released FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide in which the FBI spells out its approach to policing dissent. Hell No also includes information on several key security practices that offer the best protection from government surveillance and interference. With an introduction on What's Happened to Dissent Today looking at the protests at the Republican National Convention by CCR board chair Michael Ratner and constitutional rights expert Margaret Ratner Kunstler Hell Nois an indispensable tool in the effort to give free speech true meaning in a post-9/11 world"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The meaning and importance of dissent -- If an agent knocks -- The Attorney General's guidelines for domestic FBI operations (2008). Sections include: -- Can an agent search my trash? -- Sneak and peek searches -- What is entrapment? -- When can the government tap my phone calls? -- Can the government monitor my text messages? -- National security letters -- What threats do grand juries pose to activists? -- Special considerations for non-citizens -- 3. Restore. Protect. Expand: The right to dissent (CCR white paper) -- 4. FBI manual for infiltrating activist groups -- 5. A history of the right to dissent in the United States.

Corporate Subject:

United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation -- History.

Subject Term:

Freedom of expression -- United States -- History.

Government, Resistance to -- United States -- History.

Civil rights -- United States -- History.

Dissenters -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States -- History.

Added Author:

Ratner Kunstler, Margaret

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	342.0854 RAT	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"Compelling and useful reading" for activists, protest groups, and individuals, from America's leading constitutional rights group ( Booklist ).

In the age of terrorism and under the current administration, the United States has become a much more dangerous place--for activists and dissenters, whose First Amendment rights are all too frequently abridged by the government.

In Hell No , the Center for Constitutional Rights, the country's leading public interest law organization, offers a timely report on government attacks on dissent and protest in the United States, along with a readable and essential guide for activists, teachers, grandmothers, and anyone else who wants to oppose government policies and actions. Hell No explores the current situation of attacks upon and criminalization of dissent and protest, from the surveillance of activists to the disruption of demonstrations, from the labeling of protestors as "terrorists," to the jailing of those the government claims are giving "material support" to its perceived enemies. Offering detailed, hands-on advice on everything from "Sneak and Peek" searches to "Can the Government Monitor My Text Messages?" and what to do "If an Agent Knocks," Hell No lays out several key responses that every person should know in order to protect themselves from government surveillance and interference with their rights.

Concluding with the controversial 2008 Mukasey FBI Guidelines, which currently regulate the government's domestic response to dissent, Hell No is an indispensable tool in the effort to give free speech and protest meaning in a post-9/11 world.

Author Notes

Michael Ratner is an attorney and the board chair of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is well known for his human rights activism and is the author of numerous books, including The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld (The New Press). He lives in New York City.
Margaret Ratner Kunstler originated the Movement Support Network as the education director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Currently an attorney in private practice in New York City, Kunstler is the president of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice.
Vincent Warren is the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

In the aftermath of 9/11, the government clamped down on dissenters of all kinds and increased surveillance of citizens in the name of protecting them from terrorism. Attorney-activists Ratner and Kunstler argue that we are paying a high price for protection against perceived terrorist threats. Americans exercising cherished rights of free speech and assembly now stand to find themselves investigated by the FBI and other government agencies. Ratner and Kunstler begin with a historical overview of times when the government curbed the First Amendment right to dissent i. emergenc. situations, most recently with the Patriot Act. They offer detailed descriptions of the kinds of tactics used by federal law enforcement agents and how protest groups and individuals can protect themselves. They argue that since enactment of the Patriot Act, the FBI has morphed into a kind of political police, collecting information on protesters against everything from war to animal cruelty to environmental issues. Domestic dissent has come to be equated with terrorism to make it easier to curb protests. Compelling and useful reading for activists.--Bush, Vaness. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Preface	p. vii
Authors' Note	p. xi
I The Meaning and Importance of Dissent	p. 1
II If an Agent Knocks	p. 41
III The Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations (2008)	p. 87
Acknowledgements	p. 161
Notes	p. 163

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