The Lawfare Podcast, Episode #92: Benjamin Wittes on “A Constitution Under Chronic Stress”

Cody M. Poplin
Saturday, September 20, 2014, 1:55 PM
This week, the nation once again celebrated Constitution Day, for which Ben gave an address at Kenyon College, which we provide to you in full. In his talk, Ben covered what he calls a “Constitution Under Stress,” and how the post-9/11 world has catalyzed a prolonged debate over liberties in the United States and in turn, how the Constitutional framework has shaped our response to the challenges of drones, cyber security, surveillance, detention, and extended overseas military operations.

Published by The Lawfare Institute
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This week, the nation once again celebrated Constitution Day, for which Ben gave an address at Kenyon College, which we provide to you in full. In his talk, Ben covered what he calls a “Constitution Under Stress,” and how the post-9/11 world has catalyzed a prolonged debate over liberties in the United States and in turn, how the Constitutional framework has shaped our response to the challenges of drones, cyber security, surveillance, detention, and extended overseas military operations. Ben provides an overview of the challenges that remain in sorting out these issues and offers a few thoughts on how these tensions can be reconciled.


Cody Poplin is a student at Yale Law School. Prior to law school, Cody worked at the Brookings Institution and served as an editor of Lawfare. He graduated from the UNC-Chapel Hill in 2012 with degrees in Political Science & Peace, War, and Defense.

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