The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight Against Torture (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780520378933)

How hundreds of lawyers mobilized to challenge the illegal treatment of prisoners captured in the war on terror and helped force an end to the US government's most odious policies.

In The War in Court, sociologist Lisa Hajjar traces the fight against the US torture policy by lawyers who brought the "war on terror" into the courts. Their victories, though few and far between, forced the government to change the way prisoners were treated and focused attention on state crimes perpetrated in the shadows. If not for these lawyers and their allies, US torture would have gone unchallenged because elected officials and the American public, with a few exceptions, did nothing to oppose it. This war in court has been fought to defend the principle that there is no legal right to torture.

Told as a suspenseful, high-stakes story, The War in Court clearly outlines why challenges to the torture policy had to be waged on the legal terrain and why hundreds of lawyers joined the fight. Drawing on extensive interviews with key participants, her own experiences reporting from Guant疣amo, and her deep knowledge of international law and human rights, Hajjar reveals how the ongoing fight against torture has had transformative effects on the legal landscape in the United States and on a global scale.

Author: Lisa Hajjar
ISBN-10: 0520378938
ISBN-13: 9780520378933
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 10/18/2022
Pages: 376
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2023