The Torture Debate in America

This book provides essays on the debate over the US government's use of torture.

Karen J. Greenberg (Edited by)

9780521857925, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 November 2005

436 pages
24.2 x 16 x 2.9 cm, 0.723 kg

"an excellent and thorough introduction ot the legal and institutional arrangements of the contemporary minority rights regime in the Western world. A great value of that book is precisely that it positions questions of minority rights and self-determination right in the analytical propinquity to democracy, and as such it manages to address an important lacuna within the rights-oriented literature of today." - Andrew Goldmsith, Law and Politics Review

As a result of the work assembling the documents, memoranda, and reports that constitute the material in The Torture Papers the question of the rationale behind the Bush administration's decision to condone the use of coercive interrogation techniques in the interrogation of detainees suspected of terrorist connections was raised. The condoned use of torture in any society is questionable but its use by the United States, a liberal democracy that champions human rights and is a party to international conventions forbidding torture, has sparked an intense debate within America. The Torture Debate in America captures these arguments with essays from individuals in different discipines. This volume is divided into two sections with essays covering all sides of the argument from those who embrace absolute prohibition of torture to those who see it as a viable option in the war on terror and with documents complementing the essays.

Introduction: the rule of law finds its Golem: judicial torture then and now Karen Greenberg
Part I. Democracy, Terror, and Torture: 1. Tortured liberalism David Luban
2. How to interrogate terrorists Heather MacDonald
3. Torture: thinking about the unthinkable Andrew McCarthy
4. The curious debate Joshua Dratel
5. Is defiance of law proof of success: magical thinking in the war on terror Stephen Holmes
6. Through a mirror, darkly Scott Horton
7. Speaking law to power: lawyers and power Richard Bilder and Detlev Vagts
8. 'Engine of state' and the rule of law Jeremy Waldron
9. Torture: an interreligious debate Joyce Dubensky and Rachel Lavery
Part II. On the Matter of Failed States, The Geneva Conventions and International Law: 10. Unwise counsel: the war on terrorism and the criminal mistreatment of detainees in U.S. custody David Bowker
11. Rethinking the Geneva Conventions Lee Casey and David Rivkin
12. The disappearing state David D. Caron
13. War not crime William H. Taft IV
Part III. On Torture: 14. Panel discussion - torture: the road to Abu Ghraib and beyond Burt Neuborne, Dana Priest, Samuel Rascoff, Anthony Lewis, Joshua Dratel, Major Michael Dan Mori and Stephen Gillers
15. Legal ethics and other perspectives Jeffrey Shapiro
16. Legal ethics: a debate Stephen Gillers
17. Lawyers know sin: complicity in torture Christopher Kutz
18. Renouncing torture Michael Dorf
19. Reconciling torture with democracy Deborah Pearlstein
Part IV. Afterword: 20. Litigating torture: the German Criminal Prosecution Michael Ratner and Peter Weiss
21. Ugly Americans Noah Feldman
Part V. Relevant Documents: 22. Uncharted legal territory - RE: 1949 Geneva Conventions: the President's decisions under International Law William Taft IV to William Haynes, March 22, 2002
23. The 'torture' memo - RE: standards of conduct for interrogation Jay Bybee to Alberto Gonzales August 1, 2002
24. Redefining torture Memo - RE: Legal standards Applicable Daniel Levin to James B. Comey, December 30, 2004
Part VI. Afterthought: To the American People: Report upon the Illegal practices of the United States Department of Justice Zechariah Chafee, Felix Frankfurter, Ernst Freund, Roscoe Pound, et al. May 1920.

Subject Areas: International human rights law [LBBR], International law [LB], International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP]