Executive Power Overreach

Throughout his career, Michael Tigar has criticized the growth of power of the Executive branch and the military, arguing that it violates the separation of powers and leads to the suppression of individual liberties. Much of the same logic that guided his legal challenge to wiretapping in the 1971 case of “United States v. Smith” can be seen in his twenty-first century critique of the “national security state” and his concern about the potential for narratives surrounding “terrorism” to override civil liberties.

Included in this section are several essays and book reviews elucidating these through-lines, including “The Twilight of Personal Liberty”, his introductory essay to a special edition of the Monthly Review, which connects the Patriot Act to laws passed throughout American history under the guise of national security. Other materials included here relate to Tigar’s defenses of human rights lawyer Lynne Stewart and Major Debra Meeks.

19 archive items found.

Preview Type Title Year
Cases Brief for Petitioners, Gelbard v. United States

Oral History National Security

Oral History Conspiracy & the War on Terror

Cases 1971 Pleading From Smith Case

Images MET Objecting During Scott McClellan’s Appearance Before House Judiciary Committee

Correspondence Letter from Judge Reavley, About Thinking About Terrorism

Newspaper Articles Article About Jury Trial Result in Stewart Case

Newspaper Articles New York Times Coverage of Major Debra Meeks Trial

Magazine Articles CNN Coverage of Major Debra Meeks Trial

Magazine Articles Texas Lawyer Coverage of Major Debra Meeks Trial

Newspaper Articles San Antonio Express Article About Major Debra Meeks Trial

Books Thinking About Terrorism: The Threat to Civil Liberties in Times of National Emergency

Journal Articles The National Security State— The End of Separation of Powers

Essays A System of Wholesale Denial of Rights

Essays The Twilight of Personal Liberty: Introduction to ‘A Permanent State of Emergency’

Journal Articles The Reichstag Fire Trial, 1933 – 2008: The Production of Law and History (with John Mage)

Book Review Whose Rights? What Danger?

Lectures What the Constitution Means by Executive Power

Radio Scripts The Americans Have A Word For It