Professor Philip Heymann ’60 and Associate Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03 received the 2010 Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize for their recently published book “Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists” (MIT Press, 2010).
The Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize was established in 2007 by Chicago-Kent alumnus Roy C. Palmer and his wife, Susan. Palmer, to honor an exemplary work of scholarship exploring the tension between civil liberties and national security in contemporary American society.
In “Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists,” Heymann [photo below, right] and Blum [photo below, left] reject the argument that traditional American values embodied in domestic and international law can be ignored in any sustainable effort to keep the United States safe from terrorism. They argue that the costs are great and the benefits slight from separating security and the rule of law.
According to the authors, the harsh measures employed by the Bush administration were authorized too broadly, resulted in too much harm, and often proved to be counterproductive for security. While they recognize that a severe terrorist attack might justify changing the balance between law and security, they call for reasoned judgment instead of a wholesale abandonment of American values. They also argue that non-coercive strategies, such as negotiations and seeking the moral support of the communities from which terrorists emerge, must be included in any future efforts to reduce terrorism.
Previous prize recipients include David D. Cole and Jules L. Lobel for their book “Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror” (The New Press, 2008); Harold H. Bruff for “Bad Advice: The President’s Lawyers in the War on Terrorism” (University Press of Kansas, 2009); and Scott M. Matheson, Jr., for “Presidential Constitutionalism in Perilous Times” (Harvard University Press, 2009).
Gabriella Blum
Blum is the author of “Islands of Agreement: Managing Enduring Armed Rivalries” (Harvard University Press, 2007), and former legal advisor for the Israel Defense Forces.
Heymann, the former deputy attorney general of the United States under President Clinton, is the author of “Terrorism, Freedom, and Security” (MIT Press, 2003) and “Preserving Liberty in an Age of Terror” (MIT Press, 2005).
— Greg DiBella