The Challenge: How a Maverick Navy Officer and a Young Law Professor Risked Their Careers to Defend the Constitution--and Won [Paperback]

Jonathan Mahler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0312428855 | ISBN-13: 978-0312428853 | Edition: First Edition

INCLUDES A NEW EPILOGUE BY THE AUTHOR

The Challenge tells the inside story of an improbable act of patriotism. At its center are Navy lawyer Charles Swift and Georgetown law professor Neal Katyal, two men who, in the aftermath of 9/11, found themselves defending an accused Yemeni terrorist named Salim Hamdan in America's first military tribunals since World War II. The entire system was stackd against them, and Swift's superiors were pressing him to enter a guilty plea. Instead, he and Katyal sued the Bush administration on their client's behalf, arguing that his trial and treatment were illegal and unconstitutional. In the spring of 2006, the case, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, reached the Supreme Court. The resulting ruling changed the legal landscape of the War on Terror, and it has been called the Court's most important decision ever on presidential power and the rule of law. Jonathan Mahler's gripping, detailed chronicle follows the case from Yemen to Guantanamo to the courtrooms and the chambers of power in Washington, delivering "the definitive work on an epic Supreme Court case--and on the human beings behind the headlines" (Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court).

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best of the Month, August 2008: There have by now been many insider accounts of the Bush Administration and its War on Terror. Jonathan Mahler's The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power, on the other hand, is very much an outsider's account: the story of two lawyers and their attempt to scale the walls of the American government and overturn the system of military commissions set up to try the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. One observer called Hamdan v. Rumsfeld "the most important decision on presidential power and the rule of law, ever," and Mahler's focus on the odd-couple lawyers--the blustery, impulsive Navy JAG who made defending Hamdan his mission and the brilliant and tireless Indian immigrant's son who risked a meteoric career with his obsession with the case--and his ability to communicate the grave constitutional consequences of the case and the often bizarrely circuitous path they must take to reach the Supreme Court make for a thrilling and moving drama of justice, democracy, and the patriotism of challenging your own government. --Tom Nissley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[The Challenge] tells the story of a captive who gave his name to a great constitutional decision, and it describes the personal struggles of his lawyers, their courage, and their faults. . . . A work of rare drama."---Anthony Lewis, The New York Review of Books

"A riveting read."---San Francisco Chronicle

"The Challenge is not just a very readable account of an important case. It is also an intimate account of the lawyers who overcame personal conflicts, animus, and flaws to produce a decision for the ages." ---The New York Times

"An excellent legal thriller . . . It's through Mahler's brilliant narrative of these characters that he weaves together the broader, legally complex story of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld."---The Toronto Star

"Mahler excels at telling the story of a talented, fractious team coming together for a greater goal."---The New Yorker

"For those who thrill to what might be called the geology of American constitutional bedrock, The Challenge is a riveting read."---The New York Sun

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Picador; First Edition edition (July 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312428855
• ISBN-13: 978-0312428853
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #976,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld, August 18, 2008

By 

Ward Orr (Lakeville, CT United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power (Hardcover)

Here is an astonishing story in which two unlikely and oddly paired attorneys (read heroes) take on the United States government on behalf of a Yemeni citizen detained at Guantanamo. Neither Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, the navy lawyer assigned to the case, nor Neal Katyal, the Georgetown law professor who volunteered to help, could have imagined where the case would take them nor what it would require of their careers, family, and personal well being. But the story of what they did, how they did it, what it took, who helped, and how it all came out is as amazing as it is important, resulting in one of the most significant legal decisions of the post 9/11 era, the Supreme Court's ruling on Hamdan Against Rumsfeld. Jonathan Mahler relates the tangled and extraordinarily complex sequence of events and legal maneuvers with such mastery of the material, you have to believe he had a degree in law was on hand for every conversation, discussion, and encounter. The Challenge is a gratifying David and Goliath story, but its real worth lies in the issues of justice and constitutionality which this case brings to the fore and which determine whether anyone will receive the justice presumably guaranteed by our constitution and international law.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hamdan - defending laws, like writing them, is like making sausage, November 16, 2008

By 

S. J. Snyder "De gustibus non disputandum" (Various, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power (Hardcover)

First, the grueling nature preparing for what became arguably the most important constitutional law ruling by the Supreme Court in 30 years is incredible.

Take a constitutional law prof at Georgetown with a terminally ill father, a card-carrying-member of the ACLU Navy lawyer with ADD, and top legal eagles from white-shoe law firms pitching in pro bono work and getting frustrated at not being heard out enough in briefs, and you get some idea of the potential for conflict - potential that became actuality at times.

But yet, everybody held together, above all Prof. Neal Katyal and Lt. Com. Charles Swift.

However, the grind took its toll on Swift, with an eventual divorce and his Naval promotion path blocked.

And, continued confinement in Guantanamo continues to take its toll on Salim Hamdan.

In a brief wrap-up in that vein, Mahler talks about the post-Hamdan legal world, especicially the Military Commissions Act and the Boumediene case.

If you want a legal thriller that's real-life, not fiction, and about life and death constitutional issues, this is a must read.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Justice, August 10, 2008

By 

C. Hutton "book maven" (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power (Hardcover)

Mr. Mahler has researched a griping courtroom drama in the tradition of "A Few Good Men" where the murder charges have been replaced by a constitutional crisis. Does terrorists have any rights under the Constitution or can they be have forever without a trial? The book could have used some tighter editing, but otherwise is quite readable and clear as to the legal issues and maneuverings. Following the case as it slowly makes it way to the Supreme Court, the author illustrates the lives of the lawyers involved and the costs that they paid to win a victory before the Roberts court to have a trial. As A coda, the newspapers reported this week that the defendent was acquitted of the serious charges and will be released in six months.