Americans less positive about civil liberties: AP-NORC poll

By MEG KINNARD and EMILY SWANSON
Associated Press

A decade after the 9/11 attacks, Americans were reasonably positive about the state of their rights and liberties. Today, 20 years since Sept. 11, not as much. That’s according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey builds on work conducted in 2011. Some questions were also asked on polls conducted in 2013 and 2015. A decade after the attacks, Americans were relatively united around the idea that the government did a good job protecting many basic rights. That’s has eroded in the years since, with far fewer now saying the government is doing a good job protecting rights such as the freedom of speech.