Hours before the execution of Saddam Hussein, there was a flurry of debate on both the Iraqi and the American sides concerning its legality. One of the primary American concerns was that the Iraqi law permitting executions clearly barred their being carried out on Islamic holidays, and the proposed execution was at least arguably (depending on when you start...
I have been particularly interested in Haider Hamoudi's observations in his book on cultural differences within Iraq. In two contratsing examples, Haider describes his visit to Basra in Southern Iraq and Suleymania in the North. Basra is predominantly Shi’a and Suleymania is in Kudish territory. A couple of vignettes were striking. First, there was a guard in Basra asking Haider to...
Foreign Affairs Magazine Online has just posted a review essay by Curtis Bradley of Benjamin Wittes' new book, Law and the Long War. Bradley writes:In an important new book, Law and the Long War, Benjamin Wittes, a fellow and the research director in public law at the Brookings Institution, critiques what he calls the "legal architecture" of the war on...
There is a lot of diplomatic-speak here, and agreements to agree to work at some point in the future and how there is no prejudice to their legal positions, etc. but this non-agreement-agreement is a promising sign for resolving various territorial disputes between China and Japan. Another reminder of how useful non-binding international agreements can be. China...
One of the stories I recount in Howling in Mesoptamia relates to an episode at the Suleymania University College of Law, concerning the arrival of USAID personnel, and their hired guns, military contractors from Blackwater, or Triple Canopy, or one of the other organizations hired to protect government personnel during their travels through the country. (I didn’t ask at...
No tomatoes. Not in my taco salad today, my cheeseburger yesterday, or my Salad Nicoise the day before that. It seems that a salmonella outbreak has been linked to the consumption of tomatoes and the FDA has issued a nationwide warning to consumers to avoid eating tomatoes. The FDA warning "recommends that retailers, restaurateurs, and food service...
First of all, my thanks are due to Professor Borgen, and to all of the editors of Opinio Juris, my favorite law blog (aside from my own, of course), for giving me the opportunity to discuss these vitally important issues in this extraordinary forum. Just one small correction to Professor Borgen’s very gracious introduction: the name of my book...
We are pleased to welcome guest blogger Professor Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Professor Hamoudi is a prolific scholar on Islamic and comparative law and also has a blog, Islamic Law in Our Times. Professor Hamoudi has also recently published Howling in Mesopotamia: an Iraqi-American Memoir, described on Amazon.com as… a groundbreaking insider's story...
I wanted to thank all of our participants for a wonderful "insta-symposium" on Boumediene. I certainly learned a tremendous amount from our guests and greatly appreciate their willingness to participate and thoughtfully engage. I wanted to end by addressing some of the comments expressed concerning the format of these insta-symposia, especially on the issue of diversity. In organizing this...
Deborah Pearlstein and Michael Newton wonder what’s left of judicial deference in the wake of Boumediene. It’s a good question: certainly if you listen to the Boumediene dissenters, the answer is “not much.” Chief Justice Roberts rails against “unelected, politically unaccountable judges” and “the rule of lawyers” in concluding that “this decision is not really about the...
I see that my alma mater, Stanford, is set to formally eliminate letter grades. Beginning perhaps as early as fall, students will receive one of four marks for their work: honors, pass, restricted credit, and no credit. Stanford will be the third major law school to eliminate grades, joining Berkeley and Yale. I have nothing against the change, notwithstanding...
After posting my initial comments, I remained troubled by Julian's criticism of the majority's treatment of Johnson v. Eisenstrager. I'd like to offer a few more reflections on that decision here. The Eisenstrager opinion was certainly based largely on territoriality and citizenship, as Julian points out. However, practical considerations were not irrelevant to the Eisenstrager majority's decision, or else the majority...
