Bush Leaves Behind Legal Legacy

David G. Savage has a sharp article in the Sun Sentinel online about the legal legacy President Bush will leave behind. Bush's ability to get past controversy over various legal measures installed after the September 11 attacks may have substantial consequences long into the future, as Savage points out.

And because of the administration's successful defense of such policies, they will not only be a part of Bush's historical legacy but will likely remain available for his successors to deal with as they choose. Even if Barack Obama rejects or sharply modifies Bush's positions, the precedent will remain for future chief executives.

Hidden amid highly controversial legal shifts about issues such as domestic surveillance and the treatment of detainees are post-9/11 laws quietly enacted throughout the United States modifying--and broadening--the definition of terrorism. To wit, two New Haven, Connecticut high school students who planted a hoax bomb threat letter were charged with an "act of terrorism" in mid-December. Granting that such notes do threaten violence presumably with the intention to terrorize, the application of the law in this instance seems to outstrip the scope of the crime.