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Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties | 
 enlarge | Director: Nonny De La Pena
Actors: Aquil Abdullah, John Ashcroft, Bob Barr, Azmat Begg, Tony Blair
Studio: The Disinformation Company
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $4.47
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Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 32404
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 68
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: RKODDIS008D
UPC: 826262000899
EAN: 0826262000899
ASIN: B000621NRQ
Theatrical Release Date: October 5, 2004
Release Date: October 5, 2004
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Product Description
Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 10/05/2004 Run time: 66 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
Completing a trilogy that should be required viewing for all Americans, Unconstitutional explicitly reveals how the USA Patriot Act violates numerous civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Following the equally persuasive documentaries Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election and Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, this film presents powerful and tragic examples of how the USA Patriot Act--passed with virtually no Congressional debate just 45 days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01--has been used to justify the unconstitutional arrest of innocent immigrants based on Arab stereotyping; the illegal detention of vaguely defined "suspects" and their improper treatment (including beatings and torture) during extended confinement; prisoner abuse of alleged terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay military prison; the allowance of improper search and seizure without due cause; prohibited travel based on racial profiling; bully tactics employed with impunity by local police in efforts to undermine free speech; and other clear indications of the Patriot Act's unconstitutional enforcement. The more personal these stories of violation are, the more gut-wrenching is the realization that U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft--and by extension, the George W. Bush administration--have used the Patriot Act to justify what is essentially a dictatorial police state. Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and full of bipartisan testimony by lawyers, politicians, and victims of Patriot Act abuse, Unconstitutional makes an eloquent case for the careful interpretation of Constitutional law, exploring rising opposition to Patriot Act abuses while exposing how many of our freedoms have been undermined in the name of post-9/11 security. Regardless of your political affiliation, this is a chilling reminder of how seemingly good intentions can corrupt even our most cherished American values. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 Is This America? November 5, 2008
This is the most heartbreaking documentary. Unconstitutional is about the destruction of the American legal system. The US became after Sept. 11th a country where people could be detained without charges, taken out of the country and jailed in another without a hearing and tortured. This is very upsetting and I think it caused a lot of distress with the Bush Administration.
 UNCONSTITUTIONAL-THE WAR ON OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES October 18, 2008
Our country has been here before. During WWII, we put innocent Japanese citizens in internment camps because they were all considered to be security threats to our nation. In retrospect, most people can see what a horrible decision that was. Maybe it was not so clear at the time given the state of the world. When the horrible attacks of 9/11 occurred, it seems that same mindset reappeared and certain people are paying the price again for the evil deeds of others. Is it right to take away the liberties of people who happen to have a skin color or name similar to the terrorists? How far do we go in balancing security and individual freedom? Is the USA PATRIOT Act really making us safer? Was there enough thought and discussion before passing this bill that was rewritten during the wee hours of the morning and not one member of Congress read it through before voting? These and other controversial issues are discussed in this documentary as well as interviews with people whose lives have been affected by the PATRIOT Act such as a US Olympian whose name has made him a target. This is not a partisan issue as you see Bob Barr and Barney Frank teaming up in challenging the administration's actions. These past few weeks have shown us once again how politicians can 'use' a 'crisis' to push through governmental controls and once our freedoms are gone, they don't ever come back. The film makers have tried to present a balanced story although I'm sure not everyone will agree. It is a very difficult job trying to balance security versus freedom and one worthy of every one's involvement. How much freedom are you and I willing to give up to feel secure? Is this what our founding fathers had in mind? A worthwhile investment of your time. WWW.LUSREVIEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM
The Truth (And The Lies) Behind The Patriot Act October 9, 2008
Much more than buildings, airliners, and lives were destroyed on September 11, 2001. So too was America's ability to balance liberty and security. Only six and a half weeks after the Twin Towers fell, a 345-page piece of legislation fell into the laps of all 535 members of both the House and Senate, and it was passed into law--sight unseen! That legislation was the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, or USA-Patriot Act. But as producer Robert Greenwald and director Nonny De La Pena tell us in UNCONSTITUTIONAL: THE WAR ON OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES, it is not about either uniting or strenghtening America--far from it.
Part of Greenwald's so-called "Un" trilogy of documentary films (including UNPRECEDENTED: THE 2000 ELECTION, and UNCOVERED: THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR) that depict the seemingly endless trail of lies that have been perpetrated by the Bush junta against this great nation of ours since 9/11, UNCONSTITUTIONAL focuses in on what has basically been the fulcrum of Bush's existence as president, namely the Patriot Act. But in its 69 minute running time, we get a glimpse of what the Patriot Act has actually done to America--some of it via interviews with people of Muslim heritage who have been singled out for scrutiny simply because 9/11 was the work of Muslims, and some of it with important Constitutional scholars on both the Left and the Right, from ACLU president Anthony Romero all the way over to far right-wing Georgia congressman Robert Barr, who give us a glimpse at the fine print of this hideous and insidious thing draped in the American flag, and crafted for the purposes of National Security--a fairly nebulous thing even in the best of times, and a dangerous and often false presumption in our post-9/11 world.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL makes its point, in a low-key, matter-of-fact way, that the alleged success of the Patriot Act is, in fact, an illusion. Neither our security nor more importantly our liberty are in any way guaranteed or safeguarded by this heinous diktat. And unless we make it a point to put this false sense of security on the ash heap of history, we will lose not only the War On Terror but also everything about America that makes us truly strong--our freedom.
Less Is Not Always More May 9, 2008
This is a fantastic film - but it doesn't go far enough. Though its central premise - that the USA Patriot Act is unconstitutional - is sound, it buttresses that premise with a minimum of anectdotal incidents. As heart-wrenching as these incidents are, they could too easily be dismissed as simply the kinds of things that always go wrong because of "human error." The incidents are clearly tied to provisions of the USA Patriot Act, so it's not a stretch of the imagination to conclude that those particular incidents would not have happened had it not been for that Act. But I have to say (as cold-hearted as this may sound) that the film would have been stronger had the director not tugged so hard at the public's heart-strings; but, instead, included a broader range of individual incidents. It's clear that the ACLU, which pretty much produced this film, is not party to any 911 conspiracy theories: clear precisely because they seem genuinely confused by the round-up of Arab and Muslim people after 911. They see it as a huge mistake, which will create ill-will for decades. What they fail to see is the huge - I mean HUGE - public relations benefit for the Administration. What this roundup did (and, in my view, was meant to do) was thoroughly ingrain in the public's consciousness the idea that Muslims are THE ENEMY. And the proof was in the overwhelming public support for invading Iraq.
MUST SEE February 8, 2008
Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties Without question, this is a must see by all Americans who cherish their civil liberties. See what Bush and Cheney are aggressively doing to destroy our freedoms and our constitution.
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