There is a great post by Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog on the Solicitor General's filing in Padilla yesterday. But what really caught my attention came from the comments. There was wild speculation that the U.S. government was so concerned about the heated discussion at Volokh on Hamdi, Padilla, and domestic surveillance that perhaps the government "has taken down Volokh. Anyone...
Interesting story from South Korea about prosecutors using text messaging to inform citizens that they have been indicted. In a country where 75 percent of the population carries mobile phones, the government concluded that it was more efficient to provide legal notices to citizens electronically instead of by mail. So if your battery dies or your phone is...
Owen Pell at White & Case has a chapter in our book Holocaust Restitution entitled, "Historical Reparation Claims: A Defense Perspective." The chapter in essence argues that a company that wishes to defend against historical reparation claims must have detailed knowledge about its company history. He writes, "A crucial lesson of the Holocaust asset cases is that companies must invest...
I have written on the madness of Mahmoud Ahmadinejah and the threat Iran poses to Israel. See here, here, and here. Other bloggers are now joining the fray.David Bernstein at Volokh Conspiracy has just returned from Israel and has this prediction: "I predict that Israel will strike Iran within the next few months, with the goal of disrupting...
The chances that Augusto Pinochet, age 90, may one day face prosecution increased dramatically this week after the Supreme Court of Chile ruled that he was fit to stand trial. Here is a link from the BBC, which has the best English coverage of the news. Photos and video clips from Chile showing Pinochet and the Supreme Court are available...
Last week, Yale Law School professors and students who oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito have published a paper called the "Alito Project." (Link) It analyzes Judge Alito's judicial decisions, but does not purport to do so objectively. Indeed, many of the participants in the project were quoted in the New York Times last month as openly opposing Judge Alito....
On this day of celebration for Jews and Christians, I thought I would spare you the daily grind of international news and commentary and give you a more human story. This is a true and inspiring story retold with permission from the person who lived it. I hope it will make you feel blessed that we live in a time...
In real news worthy of The Onion, here are a few stories circulating around the globe on the perils of Christmas:1. In Paisley, Scotland a gang of youth attacked Santa at a shopping mall. The Santa Claus, a.k.a. Malky Watret, used his bag as a shield and a Christmas tree as a sword to fend off the attackers. Santa said...
A few weeks ago I addressed the question in this survey of whether war is part of the natural order of things and a necessary part of human existence. As of today, the survey respondents were equally divided 50%-50% on the question. Our readers appear decidedly ambivalent about the proposition that war is an inherent part of human existence.For what...
The Eleventh Circuit this week rejected reliance on the ICJ Vienna Convention decisions in LaGrand and Avena to reconsider a British national's conviction for murder. Noting that his claim had been procedurally defaulted, the Eleventh Circuit in Maharaj, available here, concluded that the Supreme Court's decision in Breard was controlling. "In Breard, the Court unambiguously held that a habeas...
Miriam Gilles has an interesting article in the Michigan Law Review (earlier version available here) warning of the impending death of class action litigation. Here is an excerpt:[T]he vast majority of the remaining class actions are based on some sort of contractual relationship. Virtually all consumer class actions, for example, arise out of some form of contract (adhesive...
While on the subject of the extraterritorial application of state laws, a federal district court in Washington D.C. this week rendered an important and puzzling decision applying state tort laws to combat terrorism abroad. The case of Damarrell v. Iran concerns the Iranian government's involvement in the Beirut embassy bombings of 1983, one of the defining moments in...
