From telecommunications to transportation, from immigration to interrogation, from detention to rendition, the war on terrorism strained the conventional framework of American law. It triggered new statutes, the expansion of old ones and, in critics’ views, transgressed others.
Just ask the maritime lawyer guiding the shipping company through port security rules imposed after Al Qaeda’s horrific attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Or, ask the bank lawyer steering his client through the complex anti-money laundering requirements of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act. Or, the criminal defense lawyer navigating classified evidence and other hurdles to defending detainees in military commissions.
