Cross-posted at Balkinization Bobby Chesney writes back with a thoughtful post responding to my question about whether the United States has forward-going detention needs in its counterterrorism operations that are currently unmet by the 2001 statute known as the AUMF. The question arises in light of Congress’ current debate over whether to pass (as the House already has) new legislation...
Cross-posted at Balkinization The U.S. House of Representatives today passed its version of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, including provisions that prevent any of the Gitmo detainees (or indeed any terrorism suspects) from being subject to criminal trial, and also “affirms that the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces,” whomever those...
Opinion here in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting . The Court green-lights state use of licensing laws as a tool of immigration enforcement, consistent with the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. It also upheld Arizona's imposition of the e-Verify system as a mandatory requirement on employers, where Congress had deemed the system voluntary. The decision is important in...
Readers will be delighted to know that Jacob has restarted International Law Reporter, your one-stop-shopping center for all new international-law scholarship. And I'm delighted to learn that Jacob's new essay, entitled "The Regulatory Turn in International Law," is now forthcoming in the Harvard International Law Journal, which has recently partnered with our blog. The essay looks fascinating; check it out...
Cross-posted at Balkinization Congress is debating a defense authorization bill this week that would not only prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for criminal prosecution, but also effectively double down on the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) legislation Congress passed just after the attacks of 9/11. Here’s the bill....
Nothing like the end of the semester as a cure for one’s reading pile. In addition to Marty Lederman’s post on the bin Laden targeting below (great to have him back in the blogosphere!), I’d recommend the following reports you might have missed. First, back in April, around the time the Times published its account based on Wikileaks documents...
Silence from the White House today on how to rationalize continuing participation in Libya operations notwithstanding the expiration of the WPR's 60-day-clock. I think this is a relatively gutsy move on the Obama Administration's part. Why go on pretending that section 5(b) of the Resolution poses any constraint on presidential discretion? Unlike his predecessors (Bill Clinton in particular, with his pretty...
Readers are invited to comment on Harold Koh's post on the legality of the Bin Laden operation. As always, we expect and anticipate that all comments will be substantive, responsive, and civil. The permanent contributors will moderate any comments that depart from this norm....
Many thanks to Duncan for his great post on Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s (DSK) potential immunity, and for inviting me to follow up. My short answer: status-based immunity (often referred to as “diplomatic immunity”) is not available. Conduct-based immunity (also called “official acts” or “functional” immunity) is not available either. Here’s why. The only type of immunity that would benefit DSK would be...
A busy week of grading prevented me from addressing Ken's May 6 post on battlefield geography along with the May 6 news that the US conducted a drone attack in Yemen any sooner, but there should be an important take away on the boundaries of the battlefield from the bin Laden operation. An often heard complaint about the US conduct of...
A former research assistant of mine writes with news of a conference at Columbia Law School May 23-25 that may be of interest to our readers. I copied the announcement below. More information available here. The Center for Climate Change Law and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are co-sponsoring a conference, "Threatened Island Nations: Legal Implications of a Changing...
Please don't make any important international news or events with any international law implications, because we're exhausted from the last week or two, and also we have a lot of papers and exams to grade. Memo to World: Don't do anything rash for awhile, while we catch up. (I'm just back from a week guest-posting at Instapundit, and talk about...
