About this item
In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States launched initiatives that test the limits of international human rights law. The indefinite detention and torture of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, targeted killing, and mass surveillance require an expansion of executive authority that negates the rule of law. In Permanent State of Emergency, Ryan Alford establishes that the ongoing failure to address human rights abuses is a symptom of the most serious constitutional crisis in American history. Instead of curbing the increase in executive power, Congress and the courts facilitated the breakdown of the nations constitutional order and set the stage for presidential supremacy. The presidency, Alford argues, is now more than imperial: it is an elective dictatorship. Providing both an overview and a systematic analysis of the new regime, he objectively demonstrates that it does not meet even the minimum requirements of the rule of law. At this critical juncture in American democracy, Permanent State of Emergency alerts the public to the structural transformation of the state and reiterates the importance of the constitutional limits of the American presidency.
About the Author
Ryan Alford is Assistant Professor at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. Prior to joining Lakehead, he was Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, where he was awarded the First Year Class Teaching Award.
Dr. Alford received his doctorate in public, constitutional, and international law from the University of South Africa. Prior to that, he was awarded his master's degree from the University of Oxford and his law degree from New York University. He was called to the bar of Ontario and is an attorney and counselor-at-law of the state of New York.
Upon receiving his law degree, he served as a judicial clerk at the Southern District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After entering practice he worked for a global law firm in their New York and Brussels offices, focusing on international arbitration, transnational litigation, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
Dr. Alford's research focuses on the rule of law and legal rights during public emergencies. His work has been cited in academic journals such as the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology and the Yale Law Journal, as well as in legal treatises and court opinions.
