Twelve Steps to Restore Checks and Balances


 

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Brennan Center for Justice

Author(s): Aziz Huq

Research Area: Government

Keywords: Checks & Balances; Detention & Habeas Corpus; Domestic Counterterrorism

Type: Report

Abstract:

Executive Privilege. Extraordinary Rendition. Torture Memos and other secret legal opinions. Warrantless wiretapping. Indefinite detention. Suspension of habeas corpus. America’s system of checks and balances is eroding, upsetting the delicate balance of power set forth in the Constitution. Twelve Steps to Restore Checks and Balances proposes specific reforms designed to keep the nation secure and free, as the Constitution’s Framers intended. Twelve Steps offers a course of action that the current crop of presidential candidates, Congress, and the President can take to restore checks and balances.