City Limits’ 2008 investigation into the shift in residents’ civic liberties and essential freedoms in New York City, following the 9/11 attacks.
Section 215 of the Patriot Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to allow the FBI to seek a broader range of “tangible items” like “books, records, papers, documents, and other items.”
Saying there’s a serious threat that local Muslim youth will become radicalized, the NYPD dispatched informers to root out those who’ve turned against us—and perhaps to help foment the very plots that law enforcement then disrupts.
Secret evidence, new anti-terrorism laws, and special restrictions on lawyers who handle terrorism cases are among the ways today’s criminal justice system differs from pre-9/11 days.
The FBI generated a list of 7,600 people whose profiles shared similarities with the hijackers, and conducted some 3,200 interviews had taken place. Fewer than 20 people were arrested as a result of the interviews, none on terrorism charges.
There’s no way of knowing if the subway bag searches are working; it’s supposed to be a deterrent, and a deterrent’s value is only evident when it fails.
Police are strikingly visible in post 9-11 New York City—in long lines of police cars, in body armor with machine guns in hand. Does all that firepower deliver more safety, or just more fear?
The new issue of City Limits Investigates surveys the state of liberties in post-September 11 New York.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
