TY - BOOK ID - 104633660 TI - Law, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Terrorism AU - Douglas, Roger AU - Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan) PY - 2014 SN - 9780472029662 0472029665 9780472900022 0472900021 9780472119097 0472119095 1322515220 PB - Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press DB - UniCat KW - Torture. KW - Detention of persons. KW - Government information KW - Civil rights. KW - National security KW - Terrorism KW - Terrorism. KW - Acts of terrorism KW - Attacks, Terrorist KW - Global terrorism KW - International terrorism KW - Political terrorism KW - Terror attacks KW - Terrorist acts KW - Terrorist attacks KW - World terrorism KW - Direct action KW - Insurgency KW - Political crimes and offenses KW - Subversive activities KW - Political violence KW - Terror KW - War on Terrorism, 2001-2009 KW - Public law KW - Basic rights KW - Civil liberties KW - Civil rights KW - Constitutional rights KW - Fundamental rights KW - Rights, Civil KW - Constitutional law KW - Human rights KW - Political persecution KW - Detention of persons KW - Criminal procedure KW - Cruelty KW - Punishment KW - Extraordinary rendition KW - Access control. KW - Law and legislation. KW - Prevention KW - Law and legislation KW - civil rights KW - national security KW - government information access control KW - detention of persons KW - terrorism prevention KW - law and legislation KW - torture KW - political science UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:104633660 AB - It is commonly believed that a state facing a terrorist threat responds with severe legislation that compromises civil liberties in favour of national security. Roger Douglas compares responses to terrorism by five liberal democracies-- the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand-- over the past 15 years. He examines each nation's development and implementation of counterterrorism law, specifically in the areas of information gathering, the definition of terrorist offenses, due process for the accused, detention, and torture and other forms of coercive questioning. Douglas finds that terrorist attacks elicit pressures for quick responses, which often allow national governments to accrue additional powers. But emergencies are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for such laws, which may persist even after fears have eased. He argues that responses are influenced by institutional interests and prior beliefs and are complicated when the exigencies of office and beliefs point in different directions. He also argues that citizens are wary of government's impingement on civil liberties and that courts exercise their capacity to restrain the legislative and executive branches. Douglas concludes that the worst anti-terror excesses have taken place outside of, rather than within, the law and that the legacy of 9/11 includes both laws that expand government powers and judicial decisions that limit those very powers. ER -