StudySpace: We the People ed. 6

Presidential Power and Iraq

This exercise relates to the Policy Debate in Chapter 13 dealing with Iraq and Presidential Power. The goal of this exercise is to give you a better understanding of recent Supreme Court rulings on the limits of Presidential power during wartime and the importance of Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances. The Constitution (as interpreted by the Supreme Court) balances the need for security against the need for freedom and human rights. You will read and discuss two articles from the Christian Science Monitor, the goal of which will give you a better understanding of the limits on Presidential power and the importance of freedom.

Read this article http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0629/p01s04-usju.html from the Christian Science Monitor.

1. What impact did the rulings have on the Bush Administration’s anti-terrorism tactics?
   
   

2. What does Justice O’Connor mean when she argues that a "state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens?"
   
   

3. Read this Christian Science Monitor article
   • http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1221/p02s01-usju.html

   Explain why Osama Bin Laden’s driver could not be tried as a terrorism suspect. What requirement would the Bush administration need to fulfill before it can try Hamdan as a terrorist?

   
   
   

4. Some Bush administration officials have argued that harsh interrogation tactics are needed and recent reports reveal that hundreds (if not thousands) of prisoners have been tortured in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

   Read the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution (found in the appendix of your text.) Do you think the framers would have wanted the President to be able to indefinitely lock up prisoners without a hearing?

   
   
   

5. In response to the court rulings, Congress passed a 2006 law giving President Bush much of what he wanted, including a ban on court hearings on the legitimacy of the indefinite detention of non-citizens. 

   Read this article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1006/p01s03-uspo.html .  Do you think it’s constitutional to deny prisoners the right to appeal their indefinite detention?

   
   
   

6. Do you think these rulings struck a fair balance between human rights and executive powers?
   
   

7. Irrespective of the Constitution, do you think any President should have the powers that President Bush sought?