Law Commons^™

Security And Freedom: Are The Governments' Efforts To Deal With Terrorism Violative Of Our Freedoms?, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

One of the most common things that is said about September 11th is that it changed everything. In some respects, that is true. In the most important respects it would be more accurate to say it has changed everything for some, far more than it has for others. One instance of that can be seen in a pole that National Public Radio did one year after September 11th. They asked people to what extent their life had changed. They asked them whether they had to give up any important rights or freedoms in the war on terrorism. Only seven percent …

Re-Imagining Justice: Progressive Interpretations Of Formal Equality, Rights, And The Rule Of Law, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Resurrecting the neglected question of what we mean by legal justice, this book seeks to re-imagine rather than simply critique contemporary notions of the rule of law, rights and legal equality. A work of reconstruction, it offers a progressive and egalitarian approach to concepts that have become overly associated with the idea of limited government and social conservatism. Focusing on the necessary conditions of cooperative community life, the book presents a vision of law that facilitates rather than frustrates politics, an analysis of rights that boosts our capacities for caring, and an idea of equality that captures a cosmopolitan vision …

The New Privacy, Paul M. Schwartz, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article reviews Overseers of the Poor: Surveillance, Resistance and the Limits of Privacy John Gilliom (2001).

In 1964, as the welfare state emerged in full force in the United States, Charles Reich published The New Property, one of the most influential articles ever to appear in a law review. Reich argued that in order to protect individual autonomy in an "age of governmental largess," a new property right in governmental benefits had to be recognized. He called this form of property the "new property." In retrospect, Reich, rather than anticipating trends, was swimming against the tide of history. …

Defending Korematsu?: Reflections On Civil Liberties In Wartime, Mark V. Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

According to Justice William J. Brennan, "After each perceived security crisis ended, the United States has remorsefully realized that the abrogation of civil liberties was unnecessary. But it has proven unable to prevent itself from repeating the error when the next crisis came along." This Article examines that observation, using Korematsu as a vehicle for refining the claim and, I think, reducing it to a more defensible one. Part I opens my discussion, providing some qualifications to the broad claim about threats to civil liberties in wartime. Part II then deals with Korematsu and other historical examples of civil liberties …

Looking Ahead: The Future Of Affirmative Action, Susan Low Bloch

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, race is still a serious issue in this country. Fortunately, we no longer debate whether it is legal for the government to operate segregated schools or to treat blacks as second-class citizens. We finally answered that question correctly—it is unconstitutional for the law to segregate and to treat blacks worse than whites.

Today, we face the more difficult question of ascertaining the constitutionality of “affirmative action” or “benign discrimination” programs. The Supreme Court first addressed this issue in 1978 in the landmark case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke …

The New Mccarthyism: Repeating History In The War In Terrorism, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Essay will argue that the government has invoked two methods in particular in virtually every time of fear. The first, discussed in Part I, involves a substantive expansion of the terms of responsibility. Authorities target individuals not for what they do or have done but based on predictions about what they might do. These predictions often rely on the individuals' skin color, nationality, or political and religious associations. The second method, the subject of Part II, is procedural-the government invokes administrative processes to control, precisely so that it can avoid the guarantees associated with the criminal process. In hindsight, …