From the Publisher
“Deftly connecting Guantánamo to other secret prisons, law to politics, secrecy to terror, and the efforts of the courts to frame and reframe the ancient writ of habeas corpus for a modern era, Hafetz explores what was lost when habeas became a legal question as opposed to an answer. Anyone seeking a way forward on the issues of detention, incarceration, and the rule of law that continue to plague us would be well advised to start looking here for the answers.”
-—Dahlia Lithwick,Slate.com
“We all have snatches of the conversation in our heads: Guantánamo, habeas corpus, enemy combatant, military commissions, Bagram, rendition and torture. This book by one of the key lawyers on the front lines in the post-9/11 legal battles puts these pieces together; what emerges is not pretty. If you want to understand how a country that claimed it was the paradigm of fair treatment in its criminal justice system has tailored its laws to expediency, read this disturbing book."
-—Michael Ratner,President, Center for Constitutional Rights
“The right to habeas corpus is the linchpin of a free nation, and the post-9/11 attack on this safeguard is thus one of the most significant erosions of freedom in many decades. Jonathan Hafetz provides the most thorough account yet of why this right matters so much and what should be done to preserve it."
-—Glenn Greenwald,Salon.com
“Hafetz's incisive and insightful volume is more than just a summary of where we have been; it is an impassioned case for the proper way forward with regard both to the substance of national security detention policy and the role courts should play in reviewing and constraining it. Certain to become one of the indispensable accounts of the role that the ‘Great Writ’ has played both historically and after September 11, this book provides a powerful and timely testament to the foresight of the Founding Fathers in expressly enshrining the ‘privilege of the writ of habeas corpus’ in our Constitution.”
-—Stephen Vladeck,Professor of Law, American University
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