International Justice in a Time of Terrorism

People tend to fight back when threatened. So do human institutions. Sometimes they fight dirty, relaxing the constraints on behavior that constitute civilization. As part of his attempt to preserve the Union, Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus and ignored the Supreme Court order that John Merryman receive his day in court. To create a pure environment for a pure Volk, the Nazis committed unspeakable atrocities. Today we have the War on Terror and legislation designed to relax civil liberties in the name of Patriotism. Can our country preserve liberty and security at the same time?

Juliette Kayyem of the Kennedy School of Government and Philip Heymann of Harvard Law School directed a project to take a hard and detailed look at how to go about balancing the competing concerns of American liberties and national security in the age of terrorism.  The project brought together a broad spectrum of bi-partisan advisers and experts to consider ten critical issues and recommend clear rules to reconcile critical democratic norms and security concerns around each. See Philip B. Heymann, and Juliette N. Kayyem,  Preserving Security and Democratic Freedoms in the War on Terrorism. [Final Report of the Long-Term Legal Strategy Project. Cambridge, MA: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 16 November 2004.]

The Spring 2005 LLNE Meeting at Harvard Law School will continue to explore this topic. I hope you will attend, enjoy, and benefit from what should be a stimulating day. Welcome to Harvard!

Harry S. Martin III (Terry)
Henry N. Ess III Librarian & Professor of Law
Harvard Law School

PS - For those who want to get a head start, here is some homework!