6 x 9. 320 pgs. 5 tables. (2004) Cloth 978-0-472-11394-1 $35.00S  Available Add to Cart Ebook Formats 978-0-472-02375-2 Available Add to Cart Search this Book's Content About the Book Praise Look Inside Subjects History--American History / Law / Political Science--American Politics

Equal Justice in the Balance
America's Legal Responses to the Emerging Terrorist Threat

Raneta Lawson Mack and Michael J. Kelly
Foreword by Michael Ratner, Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights


An exacting look at American legal responses to terrorism, both before and after 9/11

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About the Book

With its sweeping critique of the USA Patriot Act and the Bush Justice Department's maneuvers in pursuit of terrorists, Equal Justice in the Balance is a sobering and exacting look at American legal responses to terrorism, both before and after 9/11.

The authors detail wide-ranging and persuasive evidence that American anti-terrorism legislation has led to serious infringements of our civil rights. They show us how deviations from our fundamental principles of fairness and justice in times of heightened national anxiety—whether the Red Scare, World War II, or the War on Terrorism—have resulted in overreaction and excess, later requiring apologies and reparations to those victimized by a paranoia-driven justice system.

While terrorist attacks—especially on a large scale and on American soil—damage our national pride and sense of security, the authors offer powerful arguments for why we must allow our judicial infrastructure, imperfect as it is, to respond without undue interference from the politics of anger and vengeance.

Raneta Lawson Mack is Professor of Law and Michael J. Kelly is Assistant Professor of Law at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.