Research Catalog

Title

The age of deference : the Supreme Court, national security, and the constitutional order / David Rudenstine.

Author

Rudenstine, David

Publication

Oxford, UK ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xvi, 326 pages; 25 cm

Summary

"In October 1948-one year after the creation of the U.S. Air Force as a separate military branch-a B-29 Superfortress crashed on a test run, killing the plane's crew. The plane was constructed with poor materials, and the families of the dead sued the U.S. government for damages. In the case, the government claimed that releasing information relating to the crash would reveal important state secrets, and refused to hand over the requested documents. Judges at both the U.S. District Court level and Circuit level rejected the government's argument and ruled in favor of the families. However, in 1953, the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts' decisions and ruled that in the realm of national security, the executive branch had a right to withhold information from the public. Judicial deference to the executive on national security matters has increased ever since the issuance of that landmark decision. Today, the government's ability to invoke state secrets privileges goes unquestioned by a largely supine judicial branch. David Rudenstine's The Age of Deference traces the Court's role in the rise of judicial deference to executive power since the end of World War II. He shows how in case after case, going back to the Truman and Eisenhower presidencies, the Court has ceded authority in national security matters to the executive branch. Since 9/11, the executive faces even less oversight. According to Rudenstine, this has had a negative impact both on individual rights and on our ability to check executive authority when necessary. Judges are mindful of the limits of their competence in national security matters; this, combined with their insulation from political accountability, has caused them in matters as important as the nation's security to defer to the executive. Judges are also afraid of being responsible for a decision that puts the nation at risk and the consequences for the judiciary in the wake of such a decision. Nonetheless, The Age of Deference argues that as important as these considerations are in shaping a judicial disposition, the Supreme Court has leaned too far, too often, and for too long in the direction of abdication. There is a broad spectrum separating judicial abdication, at one end, from judicial usurpation, at the other, and The Age of Deference argues that the rule of law compels the court to re-define its perspective and the legal doctrines central to the Age. "--

Subjects

• Military law
• United States
• War and emergency powers
• National security > Law and legislation
• Judicial process
• Military law > United States
• Decision making
• Political questions and judicial power > United States
• United States > Supreme Court
• LAW / Constitutional
• War and emergency powers > United States
• National security > Law and legislation > United States
• LAW / Legal History
• Judicial deference
• POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom & Security / Terrorism

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Prologue -- The republic is askew -- The ingrained narrative -- A second look -- Breaking ranks -- Looking through a keyhole -- The evidence is secret -- The law is secret -- The court is secret -- Secret court shoots foot -- NSA surveillance : the injury is speculative -- Rights without remedies -- Still more obstacles close the courthouse door -- Guantanamo : the Supreme Court blinks -- The consequences of deference -- The mind of deference -- Be last, not first.

Call Number

JFE 16-10504

ISBN

• 9780199381487 (hardback)
• 0199381488 (hardback)

LCCN

2016009508

OCLC

• 921864461
• 921864461

Author

Rudenstine, David, author.

Title

The age of deference : the Supreme Court, national security, and the constitutional order / David Rudenstine.

Publisher

Oxford, UK ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Indexed Term

Judicial deference

Other Form:

Online version: Rudenstine, David, author. Age of deference New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016 9780199381494 (DLC) 2016010087

Research Call Number

JFE 16-10504