From Chinese Exclusion to Guantanamo Bay
Subtitle: Plenary Power And the Prerogative State
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: February 15, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 497
ISBN-13: 9780870818516
Subjects: Human rights; International human rights law; Race discrimination; Legal History; Government - U.S. Government; War and emergency powers; Political Science; Politics / Current Events; Politics/International Relations; USA; Political Freedom & Security - General; Government - Judicial Branch; United States; Government - Executive Branch; Detention of persons; History; Law and legislation
Description: "Continuous expansion of executive power is igniting national debate: Is the administration authorized to detain people without charges or access to counsel, due process, or a fair trial? Is torture acceptable as long as it doesn't happen on U.S. soil? In a new study of the use of plenary power - the doctrine under which U.S. courts have allowed the exercise of U.S. jurisdiction without concomitant constitutional protection - Natsu Taylor Saito puts contemporary policies in historical perspective, illustrating how such extensions of power have been upheld by courts from the 1880s to the present.".

"From Chinese Exclusion to Guantanamo Bay also provides a larger context for understanding problems resulting from the exercise of plenary power. Saito explains how the rights of individuals and groups deemed Other by virtue of race or national origin have been violated under both the Constitution and international law. The differing treatment of Jose Padilla and John Walker Lindh - both Americans accused of terrorism - provides an example of such disparate approaches. Such executive actions and their sanction by Congress and the judiciary, Saito argues, undermine not just individual rights but the very foundations of our national security - democracy and the rule of law."--BOOK JACKET.