Chapter 6 Exercises: The National Security State

Bloom's Taxonomy Level 1 — Remember

Exercise 1.1 — Timeline Reconstruction

Without consulting the chapter, arrange the following events in chronological order. After completing the exercise, verify your answers against the chapter and identify which events you misplaced.

• The USA FREEDOM Act modifies bulk telephone metadata collection
• COINTELPRO is formally authorized by J. Edgar Hoover
• The Church Committee publishes its final report
• The FISA Amendments Act creates Section 702
• The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI burglarizes the Media, PA office
• Edward Snowden begins disclosing NSA documents to journalists
• The USA PATRIOT Act is signed into law
• The Supreme Court decides Carpenter v. United States
• FISA is enacted, creating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
• The ACLU files ACLU v. Clapper challenging bulk metadata collection

Exercise 1.2 — Key Term Matching

Match each term in Column A to its correct definition in Column B.

Column A: 1. Third-party doctrine 2. Function creep 3. Section 215 4. PRISM 5. XKeyscore 6. Metadata 7. Snitch-jacketing 8. FISC

Column B:

A. The NSA's widest-reaching internet surveillance system, allowing analysts to search emails, chats, and browsing histories B. Information about communications (who, when, how long, from where) rather than the content of communications C. The COINTELPRO tactic of falsely labeling loyal organization members as FBI informants D. The legal principle that information shared with third parties carries no Fourth Amendment protection E. The USA PATRIOT Act provision used to authorize bulk collection of all telephone metadata F. The secret court established by FISA to approve government surveillance in national security cases G. The NSA program that collected communications from major internet companies' servers under Section 702 H. The process by which surveillance tools developed for one purpose are applied to entirely different uses

Bloom's Taxonomy Level 2 — Understand

Exercise 2.1 — Concept Explanation

In your own words, explain the "national security exception" to Fourth Amendment protections. Your explanation should address: (a) what makes the national security context different from ordinary criminal law, (b) what legal mechanisms implement this exception, and (c) what critics argue is wrong with this arrangement. Write 300–400 words.

Exercise 2.2 — Mechanism Description

Choose two of the following COINTELPRO tactics and explain how each worked, what its intended effect was, and what actual harm it caused:

• Infiltration
• Disinformation
• Snitch-jacketing
• Coordination with local law enforcement to conduct raids

Exercise 2.3 — Study Summary

In your own words, summarize Jon Penney's Wikipedia traffic study. Your summary should explain: (a) what question the study was designed to answer, (b) what method Penney used, (c) what the key findings were, and (d) what limitation the researcher acknowledged. Do not exceed 250 words.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level 3 — Apply

Exercise 3.1 — Case Application

Read the following scenario and apply the concepts from Chapter 6:

The Department of Homeland Security issues guidance to local fusion centers to monitor social media accounts and organize "threat assessments" of individuals who attend immigration rights rallies in their jurisdictions. The guidance states that this is authorized under counterterrorism law because the rallies could potentially attract participation from individuals with "extremist sympathies."

Apply the following concepts to analyze this scenario: 1. Function creep — is this an example? Explain specifically. 2. The COINTELPRO historical pattern — what parallels exist? 3. Chilling effect — how might this monitoring affect political participation? 4. Structural vs. individual explanation — how would you explain this policy structurally?

Exercise 3.2 — Jordan's Uncle

Drawing on the details provided in the chapter about Jordan's uncle Darnell Ellis, draft a 400-word letter that Darnell might have written to the Church Committee in 1975 if he had known he was being surveilled. The letter should be written from the perspective of a welfare rights organizer who has just discovered that the FBI monitored his meetings, noted his "suspected subversive affiliations," and recommended "employment disruption." The letter should reflect both personal impact and an understanding of structural surveillance.

Exercise 3.3 — Statutory Analysis

The USA PATRIOT Act's Section 215 authorized collection of "any tangible things" relevant to a terrorism investigation. The government interpreted this to authorize bulk collection of all telephone metadata. Using the Second Circuit's reasoning in ACLU v. Clapper, explain why this interpretation was challenged, and explain how the government's interpretation differed from the court's. Your answer should address what "relevant" means and why breadth of collection was at issue.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level 4 — Analyze

Exercise 4.1 — Comparative Analysis

Compare the COINTELPRO era (1956–1971) to the post-9/11 surveillance expansion (2001–present) along the following dimensions. Use a table to organize your comparison and write a 300-word synthesis paragraph:

Exercise 4.2 — Argument Deconstruction

The NSA's defense of the bulk telephone metadata program rested on several claims. Identify and analyze each of the following claims:

1. "This is just metadata, not content — so it's not really surveillance."
2. "Collection and analysis are different — we only look at the data when we have a reason."
3. "The FISA Court approved the program, so it's legal."
4. "This program has been essential to preventing terrorist attacks."

For each claim, identify (a) what is accurate in the claim, (b) what is misleading or incomplete, and (c) what the most effective counter-argument is.

Exercise 4.3 — Function Creep Tracing

The chapter mentions that the PATRIOT Act's "sneak and peek" provision was being used primarily in drug cases rather than terrorism cases by 2010. Research (or reason through) how this function creep might have occurred institutionally. What incentive structures would lead law enforcement agencies to apply a terrorism-era provision to drug investigations? What oversight failures would allow this? Write 400 words.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level 5 — Evaluate

Exercise 5.1 — Weighing Reform Adequacy

Evaluate the adequacy of the reforms produced by the Church Committee in 1976. In a structured essay of 600–800 words, argue one of the following positions (or a nuanced version thereof):

Option A: The Church Committee reforms were substantially adequate at the time but were undermined by subsequent legal and political developments that were not foreseeable in 1976.

Option B: The Church Committee reforms were structurally insufficient because they created new legal architecture (FISA, FISC) without addressing the fundamental institutional logic that produces surveillance overreach.

Your essay should engage with specific provisions and specific subsequent developments.

Exercise 5.2 — Metadata Ethics

NSA Director Michael Hayden said: "We kill people based on metadata." Evaluate the ethical implications of this statement in a 500-word response. Consider: (a) what this statement reveals about the significance of metadata, (b) how it relates to the "just metadata" defense of mass collection, (c) what standards of evidence and due process should apply when metadata is used to make life-or-death decisions, and (d) how the use of metadata in targeted killing relates to the domestic surveillance programs discussed in this chapter.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level 6 — Create

Exercise 6.1 — Policy Design

Design a congressional oversight framework for Section 702 that you believe would adequately balance national security interests with civil liberties protection. Your framework should include:

1. A description of what Section 702 authorizes (in your own words)
2. At least five specific oversight mechanisms you would require
3. An explanation of how your framework addresses each of the three main criticisms of current oversight: lack of adversarial process in the FISC, lack of individual notification, and lack of meaningful congressional review
4. An honest assessment of what your framework might miss or fail to prevent

Write 700–900 words.

Exercise 6.2 — Journalism Simulation

You are a journalist in June 2013, working for a major newspaper. Edward Snowden has provided you with classified documents about the NSA's PRISM program. Write the opening section (400–600 words) of the story you would publish, balancing: (a) accurate technical explanation of what the program does, (b) the significance of the revelation for readers, (c) the government's likely justification, and (d) the questions the revelation raises about legal oversight. Note: Do not fabricate quotes from real people — construct plausible paraphrases.

Reflection Questions

1. Before reading this chapter, what did you know about COINTELPRO? How has your understanding changed? Is it possible that other comparable programs are currently operating without public knowledge?

2. Jordan's uncle was surveilled for welfare rights organizing. If you were engaged in political organizing today — on any issue — what steps, if any, would you take differently knowing what you now know about surveillance capabilities?

3. The chapter presents a tension between "dismissal" and "apocalypticism" as responses to mass surveillance. Where do you locate yourself on this spectrum, and why? What would move you in either direction?

4. Senator Church warned in 1975 about the potential for surveillance technology to be "turned around on the American people." In what ways has his warning proven accurate? In what ways has the situation he feared been avoided?

Chapter 6 Exercises | Part 2: State Surveillance | The Architecture of Surveillance