New York, NY, June 10, 1996...Months before the bombing in Oklahoma City, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) revealed the danger of the militia movement to the American public in a 1994 report co-authored by Thomas Halpern, who monitors far left and far right groups for ADL. Mr. Halpern, one of the country's leading experts on extremism, has now collaborated with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Brian Levin on a new book which examines violent defiance in a democratic society. Citing groups that have sprung up in response to the sieges at Ruby Ridge and Waco, The Limits of Dissent: The Constitutional Status of Armed Civilian Militias analyzes the complex issues raised by private armies that resist law enforcement officials and the federal government.

"From the beginning," says Mr. Halpern, who heads the ADL Fact Finding Department, "the militias pointed to gun-control measures as precursors to overarching federal tyranny." Noting how they view the government as steamrollering over individual rights, Mr. Halpern points out, "From the militias' standpoint, the necessary response to federal tyranny is to stockpile weapons and engage in paramilitary training for what they regard as an impending showdown."

The Limits of Dissent evaluates and disproves the Constitutional claims of anti-government extremists. Since nearly all such groups, including the Freemen in Montana, cite defense of their Constitutional rights as the basis for their rebellion, it is important that ordinary citizens and government officials understand the distortions and misconceptions of such arguments.

In addition to his work involving armed militias, Mr. Halpern coordinates the League's efforts to monitor and counteract the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi skinheads and Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.

Mr. Levin is Associate Director for Legal Affairs at the Southern Poverty Law Center's Klanwatch Project in Montgomery, Alabama. A lawyer, Mr. Levin was a New York City police officer and Master Instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Both Mr. Halpern and Mr. Levin have been widely published, have testified as experts before Congress and have frequently appeared in the national media, including on network and cable television.

With a foreword by Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), The Limits of Dissent is published by Aletheia Press, Publisher of Books on Law and Policy. It is available through the ADL MRC Department, (212) 490-2525, ext. 7951, at a cost of $14.00, plus $3.90 shipping and handling. Checks should be made payable to the Anti-Defamation League.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.