Year of Award
2008
Presentation Date
10-10-2008
Abstract
University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law professor Harold H. Bruff discusses his Palmer Prize award-winning book Bad Advice: Bush's Lawyers in the War on Terror (University Press of Kansas, 2009).
Bad Advice: Bush's Lawyers in the War on Terror presents a political and historical analysis of the complex relationship between American presidents and their legal advisors – particularly in times of crisis. The book examines President George W. Bush’s unprecedented claims of unilateral executive power in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks through a discussion of the administration’s authorization of warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency, the detention and trials of "enemy combatants," and the methods of interrogation used on detainees. The author asserts that strong interpretation of the constitutional separation of powers by presidential legal advisors could lessen the tensions between national security interests and the rule of law.
Runtime: 00:58:56
Recommended Citation
Bruff, Harold H., "2008 Palmer Prize Winner - Bad Advice: Bush's Lawyers in the War on Terror" (2008). The Palmer Prize Lecture. 5.
https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/palmer/5