June 2008

The Fifth Circuit last week rendered a decision in Gomez v. Quarterman rejecting a claim that a forced confession should be thrown out because the defendant's VCCR rights were violated. This decision gives you a sense of where we are post-Medellin, with "no reasonable debate" about the status of the Vienna Convention as a vehicle to vindicate individual rights. With...

A lawyer, a philosopher, and a theologian went out for dinner. The topic under discussion was the concept of “sovereignty.” The lawyer discussed the sovereignty of the state, the philosopher highlighted the sovereignty of the individual, and the theologian underscored the sovereignty of God. Each understood the meaning of sovereignty, but each understood it in a different...