Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University hosted a reception for SLS alumna Dr. Laura K. Donohue.

About the Book

Six days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Attorney General John Ashcroft called on Congress to pass the Bush Administration’s antiterrorism legislation within a week. The 2001 USA Patriot Act had an immediate and far-reaching effect on civil liberties, leading to endless discussions about the tradeoff between security and freedom. However, in her new book, The Cost of Counterterrorism: Power, Politics, and Liberty, Laura K. Donohue argues that the "security or freedom" dichotomy is not what is most dangerous. Instead, like previous antiterrorist measures, the Patriot Act increased executive power in absolute and relative terms, and in so doing, altered the relationship between the branches of government with implications well beyond the state’s ability to respond to terrorism.

About the Author

Ms. Donohue, a Fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, graduated from the Law School last year, February 2007.