Socratic Seminar: Balancing Liberty and Security at Interior Border Patrol Checkpoints

• Assign this reading: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/tyranny-majority-interior-federal-checkpoints. It should be read before class.
• Begin class by playing this spot: “In Arizona, Citizens Keep Close Eye on Immigration Checkpoint.”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/296297733/296421971

Seminar Questions

1. What do you think of Epictetus’ definition of freedom? Thomas Hobbes?
2. What was Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mission prior to the 9/11 terror attacks? How did 9/11 change CBP’s mission?
3. What is the difference between an interior Border Patrol checkpoint and one on the actual border? What sort of rights abuses have allegedly occurred at interior checkpoints? Are these checkpoints successful at preventing terrorism?
4. What causes terrorism, according to Martha Crenshaw? Why has the US government worked to curtail the permissive conditions for terrorism on American soil? Is this the right strategy?
5. Do these interior checkpoints meet James Madison’s definition of the Tyranny of the Majority?
6. Why does the author close with the quotation from Thoreau? Is this quotation relevant to the discussion?