David Cole

Legal Affairs Correspondent

David Cole is The Nation's legal affairs correspondent. His latest book is The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable (New Press).

Currently

  • American Justice on Trial

    November 18, 2009

    To try alleged 9/11 perpetrators without handing Al Qaeda a propaganda victory, the trial must be fair beyond question.

  • Hold Ashcroft Accountable

    September 16, 2009

    The Ninth Circuit rules that John Ashcroft can be held accountable for the "paradigm of prevention" that led to unlawful detainment of a US citizen.

  • Time for the Reckoning?

    May 6, 2009 Subscribe

    Momentum is growing for some form of official accountability on the Bush administration's practice of torture, surveillance and detentions without trial.

  • Bush's Lingering Blacklist

    April 22, 2009

    If we are to pursue our security without abandoning our ideals, laws on groups financing terror need drastic reform.

  • Bush Torture on Trial?

    April 2, 2009 Subscribe

    The pressure has increased dramatically for Obama to investigate former Bush administration officials for authorizing torture.

  • Bush Law Continued

    March 18, 2009

    Obama vowed to reverse Bush's excesses. But his resistance to judicial oversight and constitutional restraint may render his promises unenforceable.

  • Obama Backslides on 'State Secrets'

    February 11, 2009 Subscribe

    The president has shown a troubling unwillingness to acknowledge the wrongs the Bush administration committed.

2008

  • Guilty of Driving a Truck

    August 13, 2008 Subscribe

    Salim Hamdam's conviction and short sentence does nothing to repair the damage the Bush Administration has done.

  • A Blow Against Gitmo

    June 19, 2008

    By a single vote, the Supreme Court stood up to an Administration that has declared war on the rule of law.

  • Rehabilitation, Resurrected

    April 18, 2008

    This year nearly 700,000 inmates in US prisons will be granted their freedom. And in a rare act of bipartisanship, a new law provides millions to rehabilitate them.

  • The Torture Veto

    March 13, 2008

    Bush has made history by being the first American President to use his veto power to preserve torture.

2007

  • Justice Delayed

    November 15, 2007 Subscribe

    The government's case against Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh is closed. But did the US government learn anything about its wayward two-decade prosecution of Palestinian activists?

  • Why We're Losing the War on Terror

    September 6, 2007

    Going on the offensive has only made us more vulnerable.

  • The Real Lesson of the Padilla Conviction

    August 18, 2007

    If it had followed the rule of law from the outset, the Bush Administration could have brought many terrorists to justice by now.

  • 'There Is No Law'

    March 6, 2007

    It's now up to the Supreme Court or the Democratic Congress to overturn the Military Commissions Act and restore our right to habeas corpus.

  • Hiding the Ball

    January 25, 2007

    Bush's about-face on warrantless surveillance demonstrates what a difference a Democratic majority makes.

2006

  • An Immodest Proposal

    November 22, 2006

    Modesty is a virtue, but rather than telling the courts to practice restraint, the Bush Administration should rein in its own abuses of power.

  • Sanctioning Lawlessness

    October 8, 2006

    What's more important to Congress: America's standing in the world and the rule of law, or partisan advantage in the midterm elections?

  • Knock on Wood

    September 8, 2006

    The Bush Administration's illegitimate use of renditions, disappearances, torture and an illegal war has fostered the growth of a loose-knit global band of fanatics willing to do unspeakable violence against us.

  • The 'Kennedy Court'

    July 14, 2006

    By casting the decisive vote in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and other contentious disputes, Justice Anthony Kennedy plays a crucial role in a Supreme Court that may soon veer off in an extreme rightward direction.

  • Lost in Translation

    April 27, 2006

    Good translators speak for others, not for themselves. So why is a translator for Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman being prosecuted as a co-conspirator?

  • Patriot Act Post-Mortem

    March 16, 2006 Subscribe

    The failure of a complaisant, Republican-controlled Congress to enact meaningful changes to the Patriot Act means that midterm elections are the only true path to reform.

  • Tortured Exceptionalism

    February 23, 2006 Subscribe

    Despite a recent federal district court ruling, the prohibition on torture knows no geographical boundaries and applies to all, no matter what passport they hold--even Americans.

  • Letters

    February 22, 2006 Subscribe

  • NSA Spying Myths

    February 2, 2006

    The Bush Administration has propagated five myths in its current campaign to rationalize its illegal domestic spying program.

2005

  • The Emperor's Powers

    December 20, 2005 Subscribe

    The Bush Administration believes it can ignore the rule of law--in pursuit of torture, Pentagon surveillance of antiwar groups and now, domestic spying. We must continue to insist that in a democracy, the rule of law cannot be ignored.

  • Post-9/11 Shell Game

    December 1, 2005

    To this day, no explanation has been offered as to why José Padilla spent years bandied around in US courts and detention centers. Now that Padilla faces reduced criminal charges, the government will never have to explain its actions, and never will.

  • Intolerable Cruelty

    November 2, 2005

    If the US is to prevail in the war on terror, we must do it by distinguishing ourselves from the enemy. Torture and degrading treatment are as morally evil as terrorism, because they brutally disregard the value of human life.

  • Blank Check for Bush?

    October 6, 2005

    Recent rulings upholding the right of the executive branch to jail and try terror suspects in military tribunals raise questions about whether the judiciary can keep presidential powers in check. Will a realigned Supreme Court give Bush a blank check to rise above the law?

  • Card-Carrying Member...

    June 15, 2005 Subscribe

  • The Missing Patriot Debate

    May 12, 2005

    The case for a human rights-based opposition to the Patriot Act.

  • Accounting for Torture

    March 3, 2005 Subscribe

  • The Lynne Stewart Trial

    February 17, 2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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