Recent Posts

Friends and readers of Opinio Juris pass along the following conference announcements from Southern Methodist University/Dedman Law School (11/7: "The Rise of Transnational Networks") and Washburn University Law School (11/13-14 "Rule of Law and the Global War on Terrorism: Detainees, Interrogations, and Military Commissions").  They both look terrific (one even features one OJ blogger and several OJ alums!) so check...

Sarah Palin in last night's debate: America is in a position to help. What I've done in my position to help, as the governor of a state that's pretty rich in natural resources, we have a $40 billion investment fund, a savings fund called the Alaska Permanent Fund. When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars...

I think so, even though it's not obviously consistent with the requirement restricting presidential eligibility to "natural born" citizens.  I make the case in this essay, just posted as part of a symposium on McCain's constitutional eligibility (in light of his Canal Zone birth) at the Michigan Law Review's online First Impressions (with other contributions from Jack Chin, Larry Solum, Daniel Tokaji,...

I think it’s over. As is true with notational wars, it takes another, more serious threat to take care of the displacement. The end isn’t in the way of armistice or surrender. The wars on drugs and crime continue to be fought under more prosaic headings, but they no longer have a hold on the national imagination. And in the...

Who would have thought that the US would emerge as the most committed supporter of the ICC in Darfur? From the "Hague Invasion Act" to protecting the Court from the spinelessness of its erstwhile supporters, the UK and France: "If asked—if forced to vote today—the United States, even if it was 191 countries against one, would veto an Article 16 [resolution],"...

Along with my co-author, Joshua Newcomer, I've posted a new article on SSRN -- "Political" Commitments and the Constitution.  It's forthcoming in the Virginia Journal of International Law, so I expect readers will get a chance to comment on it here at Opinio Juris once it's in print as part of our regular VJIL symposia.  But, we'd also welcome comments...

With all the attention to the bailout legislation last week, few noticed how much the Senate did on the treaty front.  But, as I suggested in my recent post, the Senate had an opportuntity to set a record in terms of its treaty actions and it easily did so, passing resolutions of advice and consent for some 78 treaties (the whole list can be...

Some of my students have asked if there is some book that provides an entry level discussion of monetary issues and currency.  One quite good recent book is Craig Karmin, Biography of the Dollar.  Karmin is a Wall Street Journal reporter, and his book offers very good financial journalism (February 2008).  It covers the history of the dollar and its...

The following post was written by Chimène Keitner, an Associate Professor at Hastings.  Our thanks to her for contributing it. The Ninth Circuit issued a panel opinion this week in Abagninin v. AMVAC Chemical Corp., a corporate Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case that had largely been flying under the radar screen of many of us who follow these cases, myself included....

"I, for one, cannot think of anything more presidential than suspending your presidential campaign! Being president demands suspending all kinds of things: habeas corpus, Gitmo prisoners...