Terror in the balance : security, liberty, and the courts / Eric A. Posner, Adrian Vermeule.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Posner, Eric A., 1965-

Contributor:

Vermeule, Adrian, 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War and emergency powers--United States.

War and emergency powers.

United States.

National security--Law and legislation--United States.

National security.

National security--Law and legislation.

Civil rights--United States.

Civil rights.

Physical Description:

319 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

In Terror in the Balance, Posner and Vermeule take on civil libertarians of both the left and the right, arguing that the government should be given wide latitude to adjust policy and liberties in the times of emergency. They emphasize the virtues of unilateral executive actions and argue for making extensive powers available to the executive as warranted. The judiciary should neither second-guess security policy nor interfere on constitutional grounds. In order to protect citizens, government can and should use any legal instrument that is warranted under ordinary cost-benefit analysis. The value gained from the increase in security will exceed the losses from the decrease in liberty. At a time when the 'struggle against violent extremism' dominates the United States' agenda, this important and controversial work will spark discussion in the classroom and intellectual press alike.

Contents:

Emergencies, tradeoffs, and deference

The panic theory

The democratic failure theory

The Ratchet theory and other long-run effects

Institutional alternatives to judicial deference

Coercive interrogation

Speech, due process, and political trials

Military force.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-308) and index.

ISBN:

019531025X

OCLC:

64592156

Publisher Number:

9780195310252