Immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Americans were more than willing to accept encroachments on established liberties in the name of preventing another attack. TCF’s work in this area has argued that it is essential to keep intact the civil liberties and other freedoms that we have gained since our nation’s founding, and that the trustworthy government we need in a time of crisis can be sustained only by real understanding, open debate, and informed consensus—no matter how cumbersome that process may seem to those in power.
