Meticulously documented, this volume contains more than 1,500 endnotes which aid in analyzing all side of the complex issue of the role of federal law enforcement and the risks that their enormous powers pose to individual rights, judicial authority, and arrest procedures in the name of public safety. Photos.

Expansion of executive power has ignited national debate: Is the administration authorized to detain people without charges or access to counsel, due process, or a fair trial? In this study of the use of plenary power-the doctrine under which U.S. courts have allowed the exercise of U.S. jurisdiction without concomitant constitutional protection-attorney and law professor Natsu Taylor Saito puts contemporary policies in historical perspective, illustrating how such extensions of power have been upheld by courts since the 1880s. Saito provides context for understanding problems resulting from the exercise of plenary power. She explains how the rights of individuals and groups deemed Other by virtue of race or national origin have been violated under both the Constitution and international law. The differing treatment of José Padilla and John Walker Lindh-both Americans accused of terrorism-provide examples of such disparate treatment. Such executive actions and their sanction by Congress and the judiciary, Saito argues, undermine not just individual rights but the foundation of our national security-democracy and the rule of law. This book will interest readers concerned with the history of constitutional protection, and provides fascinating material for scholars, teachers, and students of law, history, and ethnic studies.