As I reported two weeks ago, Ben Stein is experiencing cognitive dissonance. He knows he should not give to Yale. He knows his beneficence is better channeled to more worthy and needy causes. Two weeks ago he had the temerity to note that since it was virtually meaningless to give to Yale, why bother? Better, he concluded, to give to...
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear three important foreign affairs and international law cases this term (see here). It granted certiorari today in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld which will decide the legality of military commissions under the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Conventions (which I discussed here). It also agreed to hear two cases testing the domestic judicial enforceability of the...
For those of you interested in constitutional comparativism, my latest article, Roper v. Simmons and Our Constitution in International Equipoise, 53 UCLA L. Rev. 1 (2005) was just published and is now available on SSRN here. It essentially is a postscript to my earlier (and much longer) article, In Search of a Theory for Constitutional Comparativism, 52 UCLA L....
That is a reference to "Opinio Juris" in Chinese. Links to Opinio Juris by other blogs are always welcome. But when a Chinese blogger successfully links to Opinio Juris, it takes on much greater importance. Why? Because all news is filtered in China, and a blogger republishing prohibited news in China does so under pain of severe sanction.The Wall Street...
As this is my first post as a guest blogger for Opinio Juris, I'd like to begin by saying thanks to Peggy, Chris, Julian, and Roger for their generosity in inviting me to participate. I really appreciate it, and hope that I can make some useful contributions. Now, on to the topic at hand...
The EU Commission has announced an investigation into the CIA "black" detention centers. (Chris discussed the sites here.) The earlier Washington Post article by Dana Priest exposing these CIA black sites did not name names, but noted that several of the CIA facilities are in Eastern Europe. According to the BBC news, the EU inquiry is beginning with official requests...
Earlier this week Professors Philippe Sands and John Yoo debated global legal rules at an event sponsored by the World Affairs Council. The full debate is available here. Here is a brief excerpt of Philippe Sands’ opening remarks (beginning at the 12th minute): "[The Bush Administration has undertaken] a systemic assault on global rules… But it is not states that...
Julian doesn’t want us to keep arguing about the same point. I heartily agree; I wouild like the conversation to move forward rather than around in circles. That's why my previous post on this topic challenged Julian to get past complaining about what he didn't like and actually suggest what, if anything, should be done.First, though, let's keep track of...
A summary of yesterday's Supreme Court oral argument in Gonzalez v. O Centro is available at SCOTUSblog. The case raises concerns about the interplay of two federal statutes--the Controlled Substances Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act--and a treaty, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.From the summary it appears that the international law arguments did not hold much sway with...
Since a couple of previous posts on Judge Alito generally mentioned the topic of deference to the executive, it is useful to keep in mind that such deference, even in issues relating to foreign affairs and national security, is not always a good thing. Consider the ongoing legal struggles having to do with national security, individual rights,...
There is still more on Judge Alito and international law. It seems remarkable that one appellate court judge could be faced within the span of two years two terribly wrenching asylum applications. But Judge Alito was. As I recently posted, his decision in Chen v. Ashcroft addressed the denial of asylum to someone engaged to a person forced to undergo...
Professor Bobby Chesney of Wake Forest University School of Law will be guest blogging at Opinio Juris all month. Professor Chesney is an expert on U.S. national security law and his recent scholarship has focused on legal responses to terrorism. One of his recent papers tackles the transfer of detainees at Guantanamo to their home countries, a practice that,...
