CPOL 613 Law and Politics of Homeland Security
This course covers the legal and political aspects of defending the US homeland. Among the topics covered will be the use of the military, law enforcement, and the intelligence communities in homeland defense. It will explore, among other things, the Posse Comitatus Act, border and port security, use and restrictions of US person-centric data bases, efforts to combat domestic terrorism, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and the USA Patriot Act. Particular emphasis will be on the interaction between the need to preserve civil liberties while effectively defending against the terrorist threat coupled with the prospect of terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction.