GOVT 252: NATIONAL SECURITY LAW
Wesleyan University
Spring 2015
Professor Asha Rangappa
Associate Dean, Yale Law School
Syllabus
DRAFT
Overview of Course
This course explores the legal questions raised by historical and contemporary national security issues and
policies. Although I will teach the class much like a traditional law class with an emphasis on the U.S.
Constitution, statutes, regulations, executive orders, and court cases, no previous legal knowledge is
expected or required.
As you will learn throughout this course, learning the law is not as simple as learning set rules and
applying them: there is rarely a “right” or “wrong” answer to a complex legal question. National security
law, in particular, is an expanding field of study, with new laws and policies testing the limits of
previously understood constitutional and legal boundaries. Therefore, we will focus on how to approach
national security questions by understanding the fundamental legal tenets of national security policies, the
analyses used by courts and legislatures to confront various intelligence and terrorism issues, and theories
of how to balance the interests of national security with civil liberties. At the end of this course, students
should be able to:
1. Understand the foundational framework provided by the U.S. Constitution as understood by
the Founders and as later interpreted in more recent times;
2. Identify separation of powers issues in historical and ongoing national security debates and
understand contemporary theories of presidential power;
3. Recognize the constitutional and statutory limits on intelligence collection and electronic
surveillance in the U.S. and abroad; and
4. Analyze the rights and legal issues involved with the arrest, detention, interrogation, and
prosecution of suspected terrorists.
Required Texts
1. Dycus, Berney, Banks, and Raven-Hansen, National Security Law (5th edition 2011).
2. 2014-2015 Supplement to Dycus, Berney, Banks, Raven-Hansen, National Security Law and
Counterterrorism Law (2014).
3. Soufan, Ali, Black Banners, The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al-Queda, (Norton,
2011)
4. Denbeaux, Mark P. and Hafetz, Jonathan, ed., The Guantanamo Lawyers (NYU Press, 2009)
Required texts and movies assigned in the syllabus will be on reserve at the Wesleyan Library.
Page numbers in the assignments listed in the syllabus refer to the textbook. If an assignment refers to the
Supplement, it will explicitly refer to the Supplement (“Supp.: pp. __-___). All material, including
commentary, footnotes, questions, etc. within the assigned page range is included in each assignment.
Please bring the casebook and Supplement to each class. Cases and other material noted in parentheses
are those we will focus on, though time constraints may prevent us from covering all of them. You will
be responsible for all assigned material for the final exam.
Additional readings (news articles, law review articles, etc.) may be posted on Moodle each week. I will
note which readings are required for that week. You are also encouraged to make it a habit to follow one
or more reputable, national daily news sources on your own (e.g., National Public Radio, The New York
Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Foreign Affairs, etc.) for current
developments surrounding national security, intelligence, terrorism, and the law.
Course Expectations
I expect you to read the assigned materials and participate in class discussions. Class attendance is
mandatory. If you will not be able to attend a class, please let me know in advance by email.
PLEASE NOTE: Laptops and/or electronic note-taking will not be allowed during class. Please bring
paper and a pen to take notes. I will assign a student who will take notes electronically during each class
and who can distribute them to the rest of the class.
Your grade in this class will be based on three criteria: (1) written thought responses to the reading
material and discussion questions for each week’s reading; (2) class participation; and (3) a final exam.
(1) Written Thought Responses (25% of overall grade)
You will be required to submit six three-page response papers over the course of the semester. Each
week, I will post Moodle discussion questions related to the upcoming reading assignments. If you
choose to submit a response paper for that week’s class, you should choose to answer one of the
discussion questions and turn in your response at the beginning of that week’s class. (Even if you choose
not to submit a response paper for a particular week, please think about the discussion questions as they
will form the basis for our class discussion.)
The written responses are meant to be brief and thoughtful responses to the reading for the week. They
are not meant to be research papers or polished finished products.
The written responses will be graded on a scale of zero to four points:
4 points: Incorporates some of the assigned material into the response and provides insightful analysis
and original thinking
3 points: Incorporates some of the assigned material into the response in an organized and coherent
manner
2 points: Summary of some of the assigned material but does not respond to the discussion question
1 point: Minimal indication that assigned material was reviewed
0 points: Response not submitted
(2) Class Participation (25% of overall grade)
This class concerns questions that will explored using Socratic method. Active participation is necessary
to maintain an interesting, lively, and productive discussion. Therefore, your level of class participation
will constitute a significant percentage of your overall grade. Level of expertise is not the test, but rather,
level of interest, engagement, and effort. You should come prepared to each class having completed the
reading and considered the discussion questions for the week.
(3) Final Exam (50% of overall grade)
You will take a timed, take-home essay exam. The exam will explore the various themes covered in
class, and you will be expected to draw upon case law, relevant legal theories, and other readings to
support your answers. I will provide more detail on the exam as we near the end of the course.
Reading Assignments
Part I. The Constitutional Framework
Introduction to the Constitution and the Separation of Powers
Jan. 22


pp. 7-23
pp. 1313-1319 (U.S. Constitution)
Jan. 27

pp. 24-51(Youngstown)
The President’s War Powers
Jan. 29

pp. 52-67 (Curtis-Wright, Dames & Moore)
Feb. 3


pp. 67-78 (The Prize Cases)
Office of Legal Counsel Memo re President’s Power to Conduct Military Operations
Against Terrorists (September 15, 2001)
War and Congress: The War Powers Resolution
Feb. 5
 pp. 90-98 (Bas)
 pp. 269-286, pp. 293-302 (Vietnam War)
 pp. 307-322 (War Powers Resolution)
Part II. Intelligence Operations Abroad
Covert Action
Feb. 10


pp. 443-471 (Executive Order No. 12,333)
Supp.: p.75-79
Feb. 12

pp. 472-510 (Intelligence Oversight Act of 1980, Intelligence Authorization Act 1991,
Iran-Contra Affair)
Feb. 17
 Movie (in class): The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster
William Colby (2011, 104 min.)
Targeted Killings
Feb. 19

pp. 376-410
Feb. 24

DOJ White Paper on Targeted Killings of Senior Operational Leaders of Al Qaeda and
Associated Forces
Intelligence Collection
Feb. 26



pp. 525-552
Excerpts from Alex Rosmiller’s Still Broken: A Recruit’s Inside Account of Intelligence
Failures, from Baghdad to the Pentagon (Presidio, 2008)
Guest Speaker: Alex Rosmiller
Part III. National Security and the Fourth Amendment
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Mar. 3


pp. 553-579 (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1977, Keith, Ehrlichman, Dinh
Hung)
Movie (outside class): The Lives of Others (2006, 137 min.)
Mar. 5

pp. 580-632 (Rosen, Sealed Case No. 02-001, 02-002, In re Directives [Redacted], FISA
Amendments Act)
Third Party Records
Mar. 24


pp. 633-677 (Smith, Warshak, Doe I)
Supp.: pp. 82-116
Part IV. Detaining, Interrogating, and Prosecuting Terrorists
Defining and Criminalizing Terrorism
Mar. 26

pp. 981-1006 (Rahman, Humanitarian Law Project)
Civil Detention and Suspending the Great Writ
Mar. 31

pp. 733-810 (Ex Parte Milligan, Eisentrager)
Apr. 2

pp. 782-810 (Boumediene, Rasul)
Military Detention of Terrorist Suspects
Apr. 7

pp. 811-855 (Alien Enemy Act, Korematsu, Ex Parte Quirin, Hamdi)
Apr. 9
 pp. 855-892 (Padilla v. Rumsfeld, Padilla v. Hanft, Al-Marri, Al-Bihani)
 Supp.: pp. 143-166
Interrogating Terrorist Suspects
Apr. 14



pp. 895-951 (Emmanuel, Geneva Conventions, Detainee Treatment Act)
Supp.: 166-182
Handout: The “Torture Memos”
Apr. 16

Movie (in class): Taxi to the Dark Side (2007, 106 min.)
Apr. 21


Senate Committee Report on CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program
Black Banners
Trial by Military Commission
Apr. 23


pp. 1063-1113 (Military Order of Nov. 13, 2001, Hamdan)
Supp.: pp. 183-217
Apr. 28

Exam Review
Apr. 30
The Guantanamo Lawyers