Constitutional Torts and the War on Terror
James E. Pfander
Reviews and Awards
"From William Blackstone to William Brennan, from John Marshall to the younger John Marshall Harlan, many of our greatest jurists have championed the remedial imperative-the need for robust judicial remedies to vindicate basic legal rights. In this wise and careful book, one of the best legal minds of the current generation, James Pfander, reinvigorates this grand legal tradition, explaining how ancient legal principles must be refreshed to meet modern challenges." Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University "
"Not a single U.S. official who participated in torture in the wake of 9/11 has been held accountable for his actions; many victims have sued, but not a single one has received compensation. James Pfander offers a bracing account of judicial abdication in the face of brutal illegality, and a cogent and persuasive argument for the resurrection of the judiciary's role in holding government wrongdoers accountable for unconstitutional national security initiatives in the future." David Cole, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center "
"But the juxtaposition of Jim Pfanderâs erudite and magisterial new monograph, Constitutional Torts and the War on Terror, and the Supreme Courtâs June 19 decision in Ziglar v. Abbasi, suggests a different (and more alarming) possibility: The problem is not that law professors are failing to produce scholarship of utility to contemporary judges; the problem is that the scholarship that is out there just is not getting read. How else to explain both the result and the reasoning in Abbasiâa decision deeply hostile to judge-made damages remedies for constitutional violations by federal officers, and one that is shamelessly indifferent and stunningly oblivious to the rich history and tradition of such remedies that has been well- and long-documented in the academic literature, most powerfully in Pfanderâs book." - Steve Vladeck, JOTWELL