The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 greatly expanded police power to gather intelligence on law-abiding Americans. How and why it was passed is an instructive lesson in how bureaucrats manipulate lawmakers into supporting legislation for controversial causes.

Charlotte Twight is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor of Economics at Boise State University.
Civil Liberties and Human RightsLaw and LibertyPrivacy
Other Independent Review articles by Charlotte Twight
Fall 2017 Passing the Affordable Care Act: Transaction Costs, Legerdemain, Acquisition of Control
Winter 2015/16 Through the Mist: American Liberty and Political Economy, 2065
Fall 2015 Dodd–Frank: Accretion of Power, Illusion of Reform
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