Presidential Power after 9/11: The New Rule of Law
The purpose of this course will be to analyze the exercise of “inherent” presidential power after 9/11 and its application to military tribunals, state secrets, NSA surveillance, and “extraordinary rendition” (transferring suspected terrorists to other countries for interrogation and torture). As a subtheme, the “rule of law” before 9/11 consisted mainly of statutes and treaties; the “rule of law” after 9/11 often drew from assertions of exclusive, plenary, independent, and executive-made law, often done in secret and at times in violation of statutory or treaty law. What precedents support these assertions? What judicial and congressional checks operate on these executive claims of authority? How can the exercise of emergency power be made consistent with constitutional principles?
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