Regarding Surveillance

I remain troubled by President Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct electronic surveillance of international phone calls and e-mails without a court order. The President insists that the Constitution grants him the authority to order surveillance without a warrant and further claims that Congress implicitly authorized these actions in 2001 when they authorized the use of force against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. I completely reject such assertions.

Boston is fortunate to have six premier law schools — Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, New England School of Law, Northeastern University, and Suffolk University. I recently wrote to their professors of constitutional law to ask their opinion about the legality and constitutionality of President Bush's warrantless electronic surveillance on American citizens. We have received a number of very interesting responses and have obtained permission from the authors to post them on our website. You will find them below. I thank the professors for their thoughtful replies on this subject.

These letters in PDF format can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat software. If you would like download this free software, visit the Adobe website.

Michael Avery, Professor of Law,
Suffolk Law School 3.4 MB

George Dargo, Professor of Law, and
Lawrence Friedman, Assistant Professor of Law,
New England School Of Law 1.2 MB

Charles Fried, Beneficial Professor of Law,
Harvard Law School 616 KB

Kent Greenfield, Professor of Law,
Boston College Law School 904 KB

Renée M. Landers, Associate Professor of Law,
Suffolk University Law School 2.7 MB

Jessica M. Silbey, Assistant Professor of Law,
Suffolk University Law School 8 MB

Elizabeth K. Spahn, Professor of Law,
New England School of Law 1.2 MB

Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor,
Harvard University 2.4 MB