Your Take: Executive Power and the Law

When should a government be permitted to violate its own laws? How should such occurrences be handled after the fact? In this issue's Forum, Charles Fried, Beneficial professor of law at Harvard, and his son Gregory Fried ’83, professor of philosophy at Suffolk University, examine legal and philosophical arguments, with examples from American history. The authors focus their attention on the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks—and ultimately disagree about whether they favor prosecution of government officials.

Read the article, then answer our question to readers this issue:

Do you think the U.S. government's actions in the wake of 9/11 were justified? Do you favor prosecution for some elements of the response to the terror attacks?

We hope you'll join the conversation by leaving a comment below. (Please note: because this discussion is moderated, your comment will not appear immediately.)

Click here for the September-October 2010 issue table of contents

Sub topics

You might also like

Voices Raised about Harvard

Responses to the University’s rejection of federal proposals for intrusive regulation of academic affairs

We Were Students Once...

Young love: the poem, plus enduring lessons from a public-health pioneer

Increasing Access

President Alan M. Garber on enhancing financial aid and extending education beyond Harvard’s campus

Most popular

FAS Dean Outlines Preparations for Loss of Federal Funding

“To preserve our mission, we must act now,” Hoekstra says at faculty meeting

Danielle Allen Debates Far-Right Blogger Curtis Yarvin

Popular monarchist debates Allen on democracy.

The New Gender Gaps

What to do as men and boys fall behind

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvard Percussionist and Composer Jessie Cox

An experimental percussionist-composer pushing the limits of music

Restaurant Recommendations Cambridge 2025

Tastes from Cambridge’s eclectic restaurants

The Trump Administration's Impact on Higher Education

Unprecedented federal actions against research funding, diversity, speech, and more