Targeting Americans

"H. Jefferson Powell, in this rewarding and thoughtful book. . .addresses the vexing question of targeted killing from a constitutional point of view. . .[T]he point of a superb essay like Powell's [is] that it structures our analysis, provides a playing field with rules on which we can agree, narrows the points of contention, and gives us an overall assessment that is incontrovertible. . .Without some grounding in American legal precedents, rationales and practices, how can a member of the public tell whether what the public is being told about the content of the law is true or false? This book provides the answer: by reading an example of scrupulous, impeccable legal analysis. It is a gift to our democracy and there was rarely a time when such a gift was more needed." (From the Foreword) -Philip Bobbitt, Herbert Wechsler Professor of Federal Jurisprudence, Columbia University, Distinguished Senior Lecturer, University of Texas School of Law

H. Jefferson Powell is Professor of Law at Duke University. He is a prolific legal scholar and has written extensively on how constitutional concerns bear on other legal fields such as intellectual property and national security. He has taken sabbaticals from teaching during the Clinton and Obama administrations to serve as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel and Principal Deputy Solicitor General.

Introduction Chapter One The Constitutional History of the War on Terror Chapter Two How to Think Constitutionally Chapter Three The War Powers of the United States Government Chapter Four The Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki: A Constitutional Analysis Chapter Five Targeted Killing and the Future: Three Speculations Conclusion Index