Legislating against liberties : how Congress suppresses constitutional rights after wars / Harry Blain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blain, Harry, Author.

Series:

Constitutional thinking

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War and emergency legislation--United States.

War and emergency legislation.

Legislative power--United States.

Legislative power.

War and emergency powers--United States.

War and emergency powers.

Civil rights--United States.

Civil rights.

World War, 1914-1918--United States.

World War, 1914-1918.

World War, 1939-1945--United States.

World War, 1939-1945.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--United States.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiii, 272 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, [2026]

Summary:

"Why do wartime restrictions on civil liberties outlive their original justifications? Scholars have long argued that the blame lies with the executive branch of government. Their logic is straightforward: during war, lawmakers require (in Alexander Hamilton's words) 'decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch,' so they choose to enable executive leadership. Executives may promise to wield extraordinary powers temporarily, only to entrench them indefinitely. This book tests how these claims have held up in four pivotal moments in US history: the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam. Ultimately, it finds them wanting. Harry Blain argues that national legislators are decisive in sustaining postwar restrictions on civil liberties. These legislators have formidable tools at their disposal, including powers over the rules and membership of their own institution, the funding and personnel of the executive branch, the jurisdiction of federal courts, and the priorities of state and local governments. These tools make Congress, rather than the executive, the primary institutional threat to civil liberties in the aftermath of war. For example, the House used its exclusion power to refuse to seat the socialist Victor Berger, disenfranchising voters in the process; Congress used its power to compel testimony during the Red Scares in an effort to discredit or humiliate their political enemies; and congressional legislators have removed, or threatened to remove, Supreme Court jurisdiction over habeas corpus petitions at various points in US history"-- Provided by the publisher.

Contents:

Repressive legislation

Independent tools

Congress and the executive

Congress and the judiciary

Congress and the states

The Vietnam anomaly.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780700641055

070064105X

OCLC:

1534116667