Judge Richard A. Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals is perhaps the most prolific writer among sitting federal judges today. An ardent advocate of cost-benefit analysis, he has often used a law-and-economics approach to shed new light on a variety of subjects. In Not a Suicide Pact, Judge Posner brings a similar approach to national security issues, arguing that cost-benefi t analysis should also be applied to thorny questions of civil liberties and constitutional rights in the current global terrorism conflict....