Bobby Chesney is an associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Law specializing in national security law. His scholarship focuses on the difficulty of calibrating a reasonable and effective legal response to the threat posed by terrorism. Professor Chesney is the current chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools, as well as the past chair of the Section on New Law Professors.
Freedom of Association and Dangerous Organizations
Beyond Conspiracy? Anticipatory Prosecution and the Challenge of Unaffiliated Terrorism, Southern California Law Review (2007)
How early does criminal liability attach along the continuum between planning and committing a terrorist...
The Sleeper Scenario: Terrorism-Support Laws and the Demands of Prevention, Harvard Journal on Legislation (2005)
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the law prohibiting the provision of material support...
Democratic-Republican Societies, Subversion, and the Limits of Legitimate Political Dissent in the Early Republic, North Carolina Law Review (2004)
This article contends that the first significant post-1789 clash between political liberties and the demands...
Civil Liberties and the Terrorism Prevention Paradigm: The Guilt by Association Critique, Michigan Law Review (2003)
This piece, which appears in Michigan's annual Survey of Books issue, takes two books by...
Separation of Powers
Disaggregating Deference: The Judicial Power and Executive Treaty Interpretations, Iowa Law Review (2007)
For more than a century, the Supreme Court has maintained that federal judges should give...
State Secrets and the Limits of National Security Litigation, George Washington Law Review (2007)
The state secrets privilege has played a central role in the Justice Department’s response to...
Judicial Review, Combatant Status Determinations, and the Possible Consequences of Boumediene, Harvard International Law Journal Online (2007)
This essay for HILJ Online responds to an earlier essay by State Department Legal Advisor...
Leaving Guantanamo: The Law of International Detainee Transfers, Richmond Law Review (2006)
This article provides a comprehensive review of legal issues--constitutional, statutory, regulatory, and international (IHRL and...
Terrorism and Domestic Criminal Law
Federal Prosecution of Terrorism-Related Offenses: Conviction and Sentencing Data in Light of the "Soft Sentence" and "Data Reliability" Critiques, Lewis & Clark Law Review (symposium issue, forthcoming 2007) (2007)
This symposium article examines two critiques associated with post-9/11 criminal prosecutions in terrorism-related cases. The...
Beyond Conspiracy? Anticipatory Prosecution and the Challenge of Unaffiliated Terrorism, Southern California Law Review (2007)
How early does criminal liability attach along the continuum between planning and committing a terrorist...
The Sleeper Scenario: Terrorism-Support Laws and the Demands of Prevention, Harvard Journal on Legislation (2005)
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the law prohibiting the provision of material support...
Civil Liberties and the Terrorism Prevention Paradigm: The Guilt by Association Critique, Michigan Law Review (2003)
This piece, which appears in Michigan's annual Survey of Books issue, takes two books by...
Terrorism and Military Detention
Disaggregating Deference: The Judicial Power and Executive Treaty Interpretations, Iowa Law Review (2007)
For more than a century, the Supreme Court has maintained that federal judges should give...
Judicial Review, Combatant Status Determinations, and the Possible Consequences of Boumediene, Harvard International Law Journal Online (2007)
This essay for HILJ Online responds to an earlier essay by State Department Legal Advisor...
Leaving Guantanamo: The Law of International Detainee Transfers, Richmond Law Review (2006)
This article provides a comprehensive review of legal issues--constitutional, statutory, regulatory, and international (IHRL and...