Professor Bruff's Book Wins Awards

This year's Colorado Law Jules Milstein Faculty Writing Award, with a cash stipend, goes to Professor Harold Bruff for his book Bad Advice: The President’s Lawyers in the War on Terrorism. The Milstein Award recognizes the best piece of faculty scholarship for the year.

In September 2008, Bruff received the 2008 Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize for his book. The $10,000 prize is awarded to a writer whose work “explores the tension between civil liberties and national security in contemporary American society.”

Bruff’s book examines the “relationship between American presidents and their legal advisors—particularly in times of crisis.”  He uses President George W. Bush’s claims of unilateral executive power in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to illustrate some of his assertions that, “strong interpretation of the constitutional separation of powers by presidential legal advisors could lessen the tensions between national security interests and the rule of law.” 

Professor Bruff will travel to Chicago-Kent this fall to present his work. His expertise in constitutional and administrative law has served him in the Office of Legal Counsel where he has been a legal advisor for the Justice Department, the White House and executive agencies.