Anthony Gregory (born January 3, 1981) is an American historian and author. He has published two books on civil liberties in the United States and in the English legal tradition. Prior to becoming an academic historian, Gregory published hundreds of essays during his tenure as a research fellow at the

Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, the institute focuses on political, social, economic, legal, environmental, and foreign policy issues. It has more ...

, a

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Education

Gregory received his B.A. (2003), M.A. (2015), and Ph.D. (2020) degrees in history at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. His doctoral dissertation was entitled "From War on Crime to Liberal Security State: The New Deal and American Political Legitimacy."

Advocacy work

Gregory's political views were influenced by those of his parents. His father was an anti-war conservative who voted for

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

instead of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

because of the latter's support for the Vietnam War; his mother was an anti-Communist immigrant from

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. Gregory says he became an anarchist in college, after seeing what he considered to be government bungling of its key function of national security during and after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in 2001.

Humane treatment of US prisoners

In an interview, Gregory identified prisons as an important political issue that libertarians at large have tended not to care about as much as he thinks they should. Gregory's chief criticisms include the imprisonment of non-violent drug offenders, the imprisonment of innocent people due to low evidentiary standards, and the use of methods of imprisonment that are tantamount to torture.

Foreign policy

On foreign policy, Gregory is a proponent of

non-interventionism Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed ...

and is critical of

neoconservatism Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...

. He has been critical of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and other recent international war-like involvement by the United States. Gregory's views on the Iraq War were included in a ''

Reason Magazine ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 50,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the ''Chicago Tribune''. History ''Reas ...

'' summary of libertarian thoughts on the Iraq War 10 years after the beginning of the war. Gregory has been critical of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

and expressed skepticism of

Andrew Bacevich Andrew J. Bacevich Jr. (, ; born July 5, 1947) is an American historian specializing in international relations, security studies, American foreign policy, and American diplomatic and military history. He is a Professor Emeritus of International ...

's argument that conscription would reduce support for war.

Free migration

Gregory has argued in favor of free migration and also in favor of amnesty for all illegal immigrants in the United States.

Books

Gregory is author of ''The Power of Habeas Corpus in America'' (2013,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

for the

). The book was reviewed by Jonathan Hafetz for ''

''. It won the 2013 award for best book on Law & Legal Studies in the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence. He is also the author of ''American Surveillance: Intelligence, Privacy, and the Fourth Amendment'' (2016, University of Wisconsin Press). In his March 2017 article in Harvard's ''Business History Review,'' Josh Lauer summarizes the book's thesis: "Current battles over government spying are clouded by misplaced anxieties and misunderstandings—in particular, confusion about the essential function of government surveillance and the complex legal edifice upon which American privacy rights rest." Lauer notes that the book questions the ability of any purely legal reform to curb worrisome developments of the modern surveillance state. Lauer takes issue with Gregory's assertion that " e predicament posed by the NSA, modern police power, and the modern administrative state’s multitude of intrusions into private life is not, ultimately, a legal problem. It is a cultural problem, posed to civilization itself."

Media

Gregory was interviewed by ''

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' writer Joseph S. Diedrich about his personal life and his vision for liberty. He has also appeared on ''Freedom Watch'', a show by Judge

Andrew Napolitano Andrew Peter Napolitano (born June 6, 1950) is an American syndicated columnist whose work appears in numerous publications, including ''The Washington Times'' and ''Reason''. He was an analyst for Fox News, commenting on legal news and trials. ...

hosted by the

Fox Business Network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Anthony 1981 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American anarcho-capitalists American foreign policy writers American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American political writers Critics of neoconservatism HuffPost writers and columnists Libertarian historians Non-interventionism People from Berkeley, California University of California, Berkeley alumni Writers from Berkeley, California Historians from California