[Infowarrior] - Book: The Constitution and 9/11

[Richard Forno]

The Constitution and 9/11

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2008/09/the_constitution_and_911.html

The presidential campaigns have been largely silent so far regarding  
the post-9/11 changes in the character of American government. But  
those changes, documented by constitutional scholar Louis Fisher in a  
new book, have been profound and far-reaching, and they remain to be  
addressed.

“Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United  
States abandoned many of its rights and privileges for the accused,  
both citizens and non-citizens,” Mr. Fisher writes.

“With political power concentrated in the President, executive branch  
officials met in secret to draft policies that supported the arrest  
and detention of suspected terrorists. They saw no need to make  
specific charges, provide counsel, or allow the accused an opportunity  
to examine evidence.”

“Military commissions became a substitute for civil courts and courts- 
martial. Suspects were flown to foreign prisons for interrogation and  
torture. Some of the administration initiatives violated existing  
statutes and treaties. Once again in America, emergency powers were  
invoked to disregard individual rights and weaken national security,”  
writes Mr. Fisher, a specialist in separation of powers at the Law  
Library of Congress.

For those who have not been paying attention, Mr. Fisher recounts the  
major departures from legal norms that have unfolded in recent years,  
with chapters on Guantanamo, domestic surveillance, military tribunals  
and state secrets. And for those who have been paying attention, the  
book adds a new dimension of historical understanding, tracing the  
precursors to current policies and their eventual repudiation. (I  
contributed a blurb for the book jacket.)

See “The Constitution and 9/11: Recurring Threats to America’s  
Freedoms” by Louis Fisher, University of Kansas Press, 2008.