In the course of discussion with journalists at the Brookings Institution meeting I mentioned below, one interesting side question arose. In the course of the debates over Bush administration lawyers, and now Pelosi and the CIA, Republicans have publicly (and perhaps increasing numbers of Democrats privately, as the Pelosi debate gains strength) argued that Democrats should be careful what they...
Amos Guiora has a link at National Security Advisors for his new article of domestic terror courts. He writes in his abstract: President Barack Obama has stated that among his initial priorities as commander-in-chief is closing the United States detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. One of his first actions after taking office was to suspend all legal proceedings in Guantanamo so that “the...
I spent the past two days at an excellent conference organized by Ben Wittes - we discussed his book Law and the Long War (which I see you can get for the bargain price of $6.99 on Amazon) here at OJ when it came out - on ways in which Congress should legislate the future of US counterterrorism. It was...
I apologize for the late posting of this -- the deadline for applicants is TOMORROW, May 15. This would be a terrific opportunity for those newly minted JDs who have the option (as Roger discussed here) to be paid by their law firm for an outside volunteer opportunity with an NGO: The American Society of International Law (ASIL) invites applicants for...
It's certainly not over yet, but it isn't looking good: As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moves to ease a backlog of executive branch nominations, he suggested on Tuesday that he does not have the votes to bring up President Barack Obama’s pick to run the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. “Right now we’re finding out when to do...
With a few obvious exceptions, I try to avoid directly criticizing scholars with whom I disagree. But I feel compelled to say a few words about a recent Jurist editorial in which a professor, a former Army JAG (a group for whom I have the utmost respect), argues that waterboarding is not torture. (It also argues that a CIA interrogator...
You have got to be kidding: John Yoo has written freelance commentaries for The Inquirer since 2005, however he entered into a contract to write a monthly column in late 2008. I won’t discuss the compensation of anyone who writes for us. Of course, we know more about Mr. Yoo’s actions in the Justice Department now than we did at the...
Last week, I blogged about my recent symposium contribution, examining what role the Executive plays in U.S. state agreements with foreign governments, whether national or sub-national in character. Since then, I've posted a much bigger piece that's forthcoming in the Texas Law Review -- Unpacking the Compact Clause (you can download it here). Building on my earlier work, this article examines actual...
I am obviously on record as supporting the criminal prosecution of the individuals involved in the CIA's torture regime -- the interrogators who inflicted it, the military and government officials who ordered it, the OLC lawyers who rationalized it. Such prosecutions are, unfortunately, extremely unlikely -- at least in the United States. Moreover, there does not seem to be any...
I rarely have reason to criticize the ACLU, so I feel obligated to respond to Anthony Romero's statement concerning the possibility that Obama's revamped military commissions would continue to admit hearsay under certain circumstances: Romero said allowing hearsay in any U.S. courtroom [would be] a "greater travesty than Bush administration justice." I doubt that any amount of revamping would fix the basic...
It seems the new Secretary of Agriculture may be provoking another round of trade litigation with Canada. Canada took action against the United States at the World Trade Organization on Thursday over a U.S. meat labeling law that Canadian producers say has hurt their hog and cattle sales. Ottawa requested a further round of consultations, a formal step that will enable...
This is obviously not an objective source, but it is interesting to see the trends in international human rights law advocacy overseas. Abortion used to be a no-no subject for NGOs like Amnesty, and still is for some groups like Human Rights First. But, if this report is correct, Amnesty International has gotten off the fence on this question. I...
