First published 2013
Technology advances at breakneck speed while constitutional principles strain under unprecedented pressure. Leading legal minds from Harvard, Duke, Princeton, and other top institutions tackle the most pressing questions facing American law in the digital era. Can privacy survive when Facebook and Google could broadcast surveillance feeds that track any citizen around the clock? How do we preserve free speech when tech giants wield more influence over public discourse than presidents or Supreme Court justices? What happens to the right against self-incrimination when brain scans can read thoughts directly? The contributors examine genetic manipulation, human-like life forms eligible for patents, and the fundamental challenge of applying eighteenth-century constitutional framework to twenty-first-century realities. This collection brings together diverse perspectives from technology law experts, ethicists, and constitutional scholars who chart pathways for preserving core democratic values amid rapid technological transformation.
Genres: american, non-fiction, technology, 21st-century, law, academic
Vibes: analytical, thought-provoking, urgent
Tropes: expert-perspectives, social-commentary
Period: 18th-century, 21st-century
283 pages · Paperback · Brookings Institution Press