Dershowitz, Alan M

Examines the intersection of life, death, and the American legal system, exploring how the legal system in many cases decides who lives or dies. More broadly, the author employs moral, philosophical, cultural, and religious lenses to show how the government plays a role in who is killed and who lives in wars, executions, deadly force authorization, legalizing or making abortion illegal, and allowing or denying asylum for refugees. Notes the difference between a legal "right" versus a human interest, and argues that laws that decide whether someone lives or dies should honor the irreversibility of death.

"[Alan Dershowitz] . . . makes an argument for free speech, due process, and restraint against the often overeager impulse to completely cancel individuals and institutions at the ever-changing whims of social media-driven crowds"--OCLC.

Examines the sources, history, and reasoning behind the creation of the Declaration of Independence and criticizes its contradictions.

The author maintains that the religious right is misusing and misquoting the Declaration of Independence in order to Christianize America; and cites examples such as the federal funding of faith-based programs and abolishing the separation of church and state.

Explores the Supreme Court's decision to end the 2000 presidential election, discussing how the decision was reached and how it will affect the future of politics.

Describes the world's move toward preemptive action rather than reaction in foreign policy, crime fighting, and various aspects of society, examining consequences of this for civil liberties and human rights and suggesting ways to achieve balance between security and freedom.

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz describes his love of collecting and his remarkable find at a flea market of an 1801 letter written by Thomas Jefferson that reveals Jefferson's views on freedom of speech.