In association with the International Commission of Jurists

December 2008

09 Dec

Over the weekend, Stuart Taylor joined the cast of conservative legal commentators (see also Jack Goldsmith, Ben Wittes, Jack Goldsmith and Ben Wittes) offering advice to the incoming Obama Administration on how to right the legal ship of security and state. Taylor’s reasonable jumping-off point: the actual security threats against the United States. President-elect Obama's announcement of his (mostly) stellar national...

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09 Dec

Over at the Harper's blog, Scott Horton has posted a Q& A with Mary Ellen O'Connell about her book "The Power & Purpose of International Law."  (OJ hosted a discussion of Professor O'Connell's book last month, accessible here.)   Among the interesting exchanges is this discussion of the U.S. relationship to the ICJ and rejoining the Optional Protocol of the...

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08 Dec

The ACLU has filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of a U.S. citizen who, as of the time of filing, had been held by the United Arab Emirates for about three months without charges. And, beyond the issue of unlawful detention, there are now also allegations that the UAE Security Services have used torture to extract a false confession.  Did the UAE...

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08 Dec

Later today the Berkeley City Council will entertain measures to censor Boalt Hall: Berkeley's City Council will delve into national policy again next week when it votes whether to demand the United States charge Berkeley resident and former Bush adviser John Yoo with war crimes...

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06 Dec

After several months of application kept up at every moment, Julien still had the air of a thinker. His way of moving his eyes and opening his lips did not reveal an implicit faith ready to believe everything and to uphold everything, even by martyrdom. It was with anger that Julien saw himself surpassed in this respect by the most...

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05 Dec

Douglas Burgess, Jr., has an editorial in today's New York Times arguing that piracy should be considered terrorism in order to facilitate its prosecution.  It's an interesting piece, but I have to take issue with the basic premise of his argument: Are pirates a species of terrorist? In short, yes. The same definition of pirates as hostis humani generis could also...

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05 Dec

John Fonte had this piece in the National Review just before the election on the Obama's likely posture to international law and international institutions.  It very perceptively and succinctly describes the difference between liberal internationalists (think just about everybody before Bush, with the US looking to lead the rest of the world to enlightenment, along with anyone associated with the...

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04 Dec

Not according to Stephen Zunes, a Middle East expert at the University of San Francisco.  He recently posted an essay on Alternet that should give progressive international lawyers and scholars pause.  Here is the introduction: For those hoping for a dramatic change in U.S. foreign policy under an Obama administration -- particularly regarding human rights, international law, and respect for international...

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04 Dec

Plaintiffs will apparently appeal yesterday's jury verdict in the Chevron ATS case. In the meantime, as we contemplate a new Administration, it's worth considering, how, if at all, USG views will shift with respect to litigation under the Alien Tort Claims Act (a.k.a. the Alien Tort Statute (ATS)). Although he offered his views in full advocacy mode for...

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03 Dec

Crossborder remittance payments by immigrant workers to their relatives back home are an increasingly important capital movement in the world, especially among poor people.  The United States, for example, has sometimes treated remittance payments as part of its calculations of international aid public and private.  It has only recently started to receive academic attention, however.  My colleague Ezra Rosser has...

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03 Dec

No less an authoritative source than the Wall Street Journal reports that outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff may be rethinking his views on what makes for effective counterterrorism strategy. The Bush administration's point man in protecting America against terrorism says U.S. investments in safety should not be restricted to airport screening machines or border fences. Michael Chertoff says the...

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