Informing Legal Policy through Scholarship

Research and Commentary

September 2011

Against A Crude Balance: Platform Security and the Hostile Symbiosis Between Liberty and Security
Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution

Abstract:
The idea that one must strike a balance between liberty and security hangs over America's entire debate on how legal authorities should deal with security problems, especially with the challenges posed by terrorism and the Internet. Ben Wittes suggests, however, that the relationship between liberty and security is, more accurately, one of "hostile symbiosis," where the two are both mutually dependent and mutually threatening.

• Platform Security Paper (PDF) 

May 2011

The Emerging Law of Detention 2.0: The Guantánamo Habeas Cases as Lawmaking

Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
Robert M. Chesney, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
Larkin Reynolds, Legal Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution

Abstract:
Benjamin Wittes, Robert Chesney and Larkin Reynolds describe in detail and analyze the U.S. courts’ work to date on habeas corpus cases concerning Guantánamo detainees.

• The Emerging Law of Detention 2.0 (PDF)