Professor Ron Sievert, senior lecturer at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, has conducted a legal review of the national security law policies put in place under President George W. Bush. Sievert’s article, which appears in the Fall 2009 issue of the Rutgers Journal of Law and Public Policy, offers a new perspective on those actions.
While noting that charges that the Bush administration ‘assaulted’ civil liberties may well be a lasting legacy, Sievert argues that a detached legal review of the most controversial policies leads to a dramatically different conclusion as to their constitutionality. He cites specific examples, including the fact that appellate courts have not overruled major portions of the Patriot Act, nor has the Obama administration proposed any significant changes in the legislation. Other issues addressed in the article include the continued use of military commissions to try Al Qaeda combatants, and the use of the NSA to intercept Al Qaeda without FISA authorization.
A graduate of St. Bonaventure University and the University of Texas School of Law, Sievert has broad experience in national security legal issues. He has worked with the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies on international and national security-related cases, trained Federal prosecutors, and trained foreign judges and prosecutors on how to investigate national security cases.
