The United States is the freest country in the world, yet American liberties are increasingly violated, limited, or circumscribed by government as it expands into every corner of civil society. The federal government today limits our political speech, subjects us to more wiretapping than ever before, criminalizes more activities every year, interferes with the content of broadcasting, and assumes unprecedented police and prosecutorial powers. The best way to protect civil liberties is to rein in the scope and power of the federal government and begin to return the federal government to its constitutional limits.

More on Civil Liberties

Commentary

Coming: Judgement Day for U.S. Torture Policies

By Nat Hentoff. Cato.org. May 1, 2013.

The False Security of Surveillance Cameras

By Julian Sanchez. Fox News (Online). April 26, 2013.

Supreme Court Saves Our Privacy? Media Sleeps

By . Cato.org. April 24, 2013.

Cato Studies

Abolish the Department of Homeland Security

By David Rittgers. Policy Analysis No. 683. September 8, 2011.

Leashing the Surveillance State: How to Reform Patriot Act Surveillance Authorities

By Julian Sanchez. Policy Analysis No. 675. May 16, 2011.

Attack of the Utility Monsters: The New Threats to Free Speech

By Jason Kuznicki. Policy Analysis No. 652. November 16, 2009.

Articles

Constitutional Intelligence: Restoring Politics in the War on Terror

Roger Pilon. Chapman Law Review. Vol. 655. No. 12. 2009.

Can American Asset Forfeiture Law Be Justified?

Roger Pilon. New York Law School Review. Vol. 311. No. 39. 1994.

Public Filings

Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International

By Ilya Shapiro. Legal Briefs. April 3, 2013.

Alaska Biometrics

By Jim Harper. Testimony. March 27, 2012.

United States v. Jones

By Jim Harper, Ilya Shapiro and Tim Lynch. Legal Briefs. October 3, 2011.

Reviews & Journals

The Coming Century of Liberty

David Boaz. Cato's Letter. Fall 2007.

Events

E-Verify’s Many Perils

Featuring Jim Harper and Alex Nowrasteh. February 28, 2013. Capitol Hill Briefing.

Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate

Featuring Trevor Burrus. December 11, 2012. Book Forum.

The Hidden Surveillance State

Featuring Julian Sanchez and Caleb O. Brown. July 27, 2012. Sponsor E-Briefing.