Democrat Andre Carson won a special congressional election in Indiana yesterday to replace his grandmother, Julia Carson, who died a few months ago. Carson is the second Muslim elected to Congress, following in the footsteps of fellow Democrat Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Interestingly, neither Carson nor Ellison was born Muslim. Ellison was raised Catholic; Carson grew up Baptist. ...
Finally, an answer to the question "Who DOES answer the phone at the White House at 3:00 am?" A funny take on how automatic phone trees can defeat global terrorism. Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan. ...
Now here is a novel argument about "economic torture" from a recent Second Circuit case of Savchuck v. Mukasey: An alien is entitled to protection under CAT when he or she is “more likely than not [to] ...
Slate is publishing a set of dispatches this week about Israel's newest tourism innovation: the "Ultimate Counter-Terrorism Mission," which is "packed full of visits to military bases, security briefings from members of Mossad and Shin Bet, and stops for fine dining." The dispatches are fascinating and well worth reading in themselves, but I was particularly struck by an anecdote...
The remedy for VCCR violations took another interesting twist last month. A state appeals court in Minnesota has addressed the question of the relationship between a VCCR violation and Miranda protections. Interpreting Sanchez-Llamas, the court in State v. Morales-Mulato essentially subsumed VCCR violations within remedies available under Miranda. Here is the key excerpt: Appellant was … arrested and...
Whatever will Fox News do now? Not even the Pentagon still believes that Saddam had operational ties to al Qaeda:An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network. The Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled...
The New York Times Magazine has a great story on celebrity philanthropy. The good news is that, as we all know, celebrities can do a tremendous amount of good in promoting important causes. Publicity and access to power guarantees that their sponsorship of causes can make a difference. But the story also highlights just how self-absorbed and...
The so-called "doomsday" seed vault opened recently in Norway. It's a remarkable venture — and an even more remarkable piece of engineering:"This is a frozen Garden of Eden," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the opening ceremony Tuesday, as guests carried the first seed deposits into the icy vault, deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote...
The Southern District of Florida last week rendered an interesting case involving alleged international trafficking of Cuban aliens to Curaçao where they were slave laborers. The case of Licea v. Curacao Drydock Co. focused on whether the case should be dismissed on the grounds of forum non conveniens. Plaintiffs are three Cuban nationals who are now residents of Florida. The...
I've always loved the Billboard Liberation Front's unique brand of civil disobedience, but this time they've outdone themselves: Here's a snippet from the accompanying "Press Release":February 27, 2008 San Francisco, CA The Billboard Liberation Front today announced a major new advertising improvement campaign executed on behalf of clients AT&T and the National Security Agency. Focusing on billboards in the San Francisco area, this...
The Yale Pocket Part has republished a great student note from 1988 by Jill Pryor (now a partner at a law firm in Atlanta) defining the phrase "natural-born citizen." It only took twenty years, but given the uncertainty about John McCain's constitutional eligibility, the topic is now timely. Here is the conclusion: If the eligibility of a presidential candidate...
This conference at UCLA on March 11 addressing the topic of U.S. foreign policy toward rogue states looks really interesting. On March 11, 2008, the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA will convene a conference featuring Governor Bill Richardson, Burkle Center Senior Fellows General Wesley Clark (ret.) and Former Foreign Minister to Thailand Kantathi Suphamongkhon and leading scholars,...
