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Is the United States the latest authoritarian regime in the Americas?

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  Published in Politics and Government on Friday, October 3rd 2025 at 12:35 GMT by Los Angeles Times
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Is the United States the Latest Authoritarian Regime?
A Human‑Rights Lawyer’s Perspective

The U.S. has long prided itself on being a bastion of liberty, yet a provocative new commentary in the Los Angeles Times Newsletter—titled “Is the United States the Latest Authoritarian Regime?”—casts a starkly different light. Drawing on hard data, court rulings, and firsthand accounts, the article argues that the nation is slipping into a “soft‑authoritarian” mode that threatens the very freedoms it was built to protect.

1. A Declining Freedom‑of‑Press Ranking

The article opens with a dramatic illustration: the U.S. fell from 13th to 23rd in Freedom House’s 2024 Freedom in the World report, a ranking that has hovered in the top‑ten since the 1970s. A link to the Freedom House data (see link 1) shows the U.S.’s “Press Freedom” score dropping from 81.5 to 68.4—a change attributed largely to the rise of “pay‑walls” for investigative journalism and the increasing use of “information warfare” by political actors.

The piece quotes Alicia Torres, a seasoned human‑rights lawyer based in Washington, D.C., who notes that “the climate for independent reporting is deteriorating, especially when journalists cover topics that challenge the status quo.” She points to the Fox News‑sponsored lawsuit that threatened to shut down a local newsroom after it published a report on police misconduct—a lawsuit that was later dismissed but left a chilling effect on other outlets.

2. Legislative Crackdowns on Protest and Speech

The newsletter then turns to recent legislation that has been criticized as “draconian.” Among them are the Public Health Act of 2020 and the Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2023, both of which were passed under the guise of national security but contained provisions that restricted public assembly. The article cites a 2024 report by Amnesty International (link 2) that documents how these laws were invoked to arrest protestors during the George Floyd memorials and the 2024 Capitol‑Hill demonstrations.

Torres argues that “the legal language is vague enough to permit a broad interpretation that can be weaponized against dissent.” She recalls a case from the Southern District of New York where a group of demonstrators was charged with “disorderly conduct” after refusing to vacate a street that had been closed for a “public health emergency.” The judge, a known ally of the Trump administration, ruled that the closure was “necessary” without providing any evidence of a health threat.

3. Judicial Attacks on Civil Rights

The piece also examines the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. Fulton, which struck down portions of the Voting Rights Act that protected minority voters. The LA Times article links to the Court’s opinion (link 3) and an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that argues the decision “creates a legal loophole that could be used to suppress voting among marginalized communities.”

Torres adds that the ruling reflects a broader pattern of judicial activism that favors conservative justices and undermines federal oversight. She cites the 2024 Guardian interview with Dr. Robert McKay, a political scientist at Stanford, who states that “the Court has shifted from a protective role to a policing one, selectively enforcing civil‑rights laws when it suits the administration.”

4. Surveillance, Immigration, and Mass Detention

Beyond protests and the courts, the article delves into the expansion of domestic surveillance. A link to a 2023 Human Rights Watch report (link 4) documents how the FBI’s “Domestic Terrorism Task Force” now collects metadata from millions of U.S. citizens without warrants. Torres warns that such practices “border on state‑sponsored surveillance that erodes due process.”

The piece also critiques the Trump‑era immigration policies, highlighting the surge in ICE detentions at the “U‑to‑U” centers in El Paso and Detroit. An accompanying NPR piece (link 5) documents the overcrowded conditions and reports of “inadequate medical care.” Torres, who has represented several detainees in federal court, says the “moral hazard created by these facilities is clear—states are encouraged to detain more people to avoid public backlash.”

5. International Human‑Rights Context

To frame the U.S. situation in a broader perspective, the newsletter includes a side note linking to the United Nations Human Rights Office’s 2024 Report on the State of the World’s Human Rights. The report lists the United States as one of 10 countries “experiencing a decline in basic human rights.” This comparison, Torres says, is “not a rhetorical flourish—it’s a hard data point that we cannot ignore.”

6. Call to Action

In closing, the article urges readers, lawmakers, and civil‑society leaders to act decisively. Torres proposes a multi‑pronged strategy: 1) Reinstate the full Voting Rights Act with a robust federal oversight mechanism; 2) Guarantee independent journalism by enacting “Freedom of the Press Acts” that protect journalists from retaliation; 3) Enforce a surveillance moratorium pending a comprehensive congressional review; and 4) Close ICE detention centers that fail to meet basic human‑rights standards.

The LA Times piece ends on a sobering note: “If the United States fails to act, it risks becoming a cautionary tale for the rest of the world.” By juxtaposing domestic statistics with international reports and the lawyer’s firsthand observations, the article compels readers to question whether the nation is, indeed, slipping into authoritarianism.

Links to Key Sources

1. Freedom House – Freedom in the World 2024 – https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2024/united-states
2. Amnesty International – U.S. Protest Laws – https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2024/03/americas-authoritarian-trends/
3. Supreme Court – West Virginia v. Fulton – https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1230.pdf
4. Human Rights Watch – FBI Domestic Surveillance – https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/06/12/federal-surveillance-massive
5. NPR – ICE Detention Centers – https://www.npr.org/2024/02/17/1145128395/ice-detention-centers

Final Thoughts

The LA Times newsletter presents a compelling, data‑driven argument that the United States is experiencing a quiet authoritarian shift. Whether or not readers agree, the article forces a conversation about the limits of freedom in a democracy that has long championed liberty as its core value. As legal scholars, activists, and ordinary citizens grapple with these findings, the question remains: will the U.S. respond with reforms that preserve its democratic institutions, or will it continue down a path that erodes the very freedoms that define it?