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, a libertarian ]think tank
A think tank, or public 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-governme ...
in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. 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 instead of Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
because of the latter's support for the Vietnam War; his mother was an anti-Communist immigrant from Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
. 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 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 and is critical of neoconservatism.
He has been critical of the Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
and other recent international war-like involvement by the United States. Gregory's views on the Iraq War were included in a '' Reason Magazine'' summary of libertarian thoughts on the Iraq War 10 years after the beginning of the war.
Gregory has been critical of conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
and expressed skepticism of Andrew Bacevich'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 was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
for the Independent Institute). The book was reviewed by Jonathan Hafetz for '' Reason Magazine''. 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'' writer Joseph S. Diedrich about his personal life and his vision for liberty.
References
External links
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{{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
People from Berkeley, California
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Writers from Berkeley, California
Historians from California