No surprise that that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement is languishing short of congressional approval in an election year. But who knew that members of Congress now feel free to team up with foreign legislators jointly to lobby their executive counterparts. From Foreign Policy's The Cable: On Monday, 21 U.S. lawmakers joined with 35 South Korea lawmakers to write to both...
That appears to be the upshot of section 704 of Public Law 111-117, a doorstop appropriations measure enacted last December: SEC. 704. Unless otherwise specified during the current fiscal year, no part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used to pay the compensation of any officer or employee of the Government of...
Here is the letter of the EU Ambassador to the US to Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell protesting the (then) imminent execution of Teresa Lewis, among other international voices attempting to win commutation for the convicted killer. Obviously the effort failed. I'm not sure that there has been any episode in which one can establish a causal link between such international...
President Obama's UN General Assembly speech this morning highlighted the place of civil society as an agent of progress: Civil society is the conscience of our communities, and America will always extend our engagement abroad with citizens beyond the halls of government. We will call out those who suppress ideas, and serve as a voice for the voiceless....
The draft Resolution of Ratification for the New START treaty approved last week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is now up on Senator Richard Lugar's webpage. It contains all sorts of required certifications, reports, and briefings. I can't tell if any of it is really significant by way of constraint. (Lugar claims in his press release that the required...
Just bumped into Independent Diplomat, "The Diplomatic Advisory Group," while casting around. Along with the Public International Law & Policy Group, this seems to part of what may be the growing phenomenon of private contractor diplomacy, of the non-profit kind. I first noticed the phenomenon in the context of small island states and their use of the Foundation for...
Chuck Lane makes this case for rejecting a "cry fire" analogy on Koran burning, as suggested by Justice Breyer in a book-flacking recent interview with George Stephanopoulos. The logic is pretty clear: that where an expressive act creates an immediate danger, it's not constitutionally protected. If the burning of a Koran in Florida was going to cost lives in Afghanistan,...
Mike Scharf and Paul Williams have published an interesting collection of recollections and colloquys among all ten living State Department legal advisers, Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis: The Role of International Law and the State Department Legal Adviser, released by Cambridge UP earlier this year. In addition to essays from each, recounting particular episodes from their tenures, there...
I've got some bigger picture thoughts (cautionary, from an alien rights perspective) over at the NY Times Room for Debate. As for Judge Bolton's reasoning in her order invalidating key provisions of the law, it is striking how much work Hines v. Davidowitz (1941) does as the centerpiece precedent. In some ways it's a good fit. Hines also involved a...
At least two of the Russian spies are naturalized US citizens -- Vicky Palaez and her husband Mikhail Vasenkov (aka Juan Lazaro). In Palaez's case, at least, it looks like there was nothing fraudulent about her naturalization (presumably there's a case that her husband's was, though I haven't seen anyone make it). As part of the plea agreement, Palaez agrees to...
Julian's link to the WSJ blog post forces me to aim for something a little more coherent (apologies, I didn't know they were doing the interview format - thought they were on the usual fishing expedition for a soundbite or two). The bottom line: I think there's a pretty good chance the S.B. 1070 will be enjoined before it goes...
Justice Kennedy has returned to foreign sources in his Eighth Amendment jurisprudence with today's decision in Graham v. Florida, striking down state statutes sentencing juveniles to life without parole for crimes other than homicide: [A]s petitioner contends and respondent does not contest, the United States is the only Nation that imposes life without parole sentences on juvenile nonhomicide offenders. We also...
