Breaking news: Chile's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that stripped Pinochet of his immunity in a case involving Chile's infamous Villa Grimaldi prison, paving the way for him to face dozens of charges of torture and kidnapping. Here is Wikipedia's description of Villa Grimaldi:Villa Grimaldi was a complex of buildings used for the interrogation and torture...
One of my favorite legal journalists Dahlia Lithwick has a very fairminded review in Slate of Judge Richard Posner's recent book Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. According to Lithwick, Posner's book argues that, "broader government surveillance powers, computerized data-mining, zealous deterrence of media leaks, and even 'coercive interrogation up to and including...
Regardless of whether we support or oppose the Castro's regime, I think we should all be able to agree that paying journalists to shill the Bush administration's line is not the brightest idea:At least 10 Florida journalists received regular payments from a U.S. government program aimed at undermining the Cuban government of Fidel Castro, The Miami Herald reported on Friday. Total payments...
According to the well-connected Steve Clemons at the Washington Note:Several well-placed sources close to the Bolton nomination process have reported to me that the Bolton confirmation process is now dead. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is "highly unlikely" to reconsider Bolton's confirmation again as things now stand. One insider reported, as far as the Committee is concerned, "we consider the confirmation over....
I’m teaching my favorite class--International Law--again this fall. As usual, I’m also trying to find ways to fit a few new, important cases into my coverage (e.g., Sanchez-Llamas, Hamdan). Meanwhile, I see that Prawfsblawg has started an admirable “research canons” series to give young academics the research tools they need to do scholarship in particular areas (look for...
Okay, not exactly a headline that makes you want to click through on a Friday afternoon. As part of its "food issue" (don't expect recipes for blondies or table-setting ideas), The Nation has this piece on the right to food. I was expecting something from the bad old days of international law during which IL proponents thought it...
Professor Peter Rutledge of the law school at Catholic University files this account of yesterday's oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. considering the constitutionality of certain parts of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). I've blogged about this on a number of occasions (see related posts below) The following is his very useful analysis: For...
Over at "Pennumbra", UPenn's new law review pocket part, Professors Avi Bell and William Burke-White have an interesting debate available here on the continued relevance of the United Nations. Burke-White argues the UN is indispensable, while Bell argues it is dispensable. Check it out. ...
During one of his campaign stops yesterday, President Bush touted his administration's supposed success in combating al-Qaeda. One of his examples was Pakistan:We've kept the terrorists from achieving their key goal, to overthrow governments across the broader Middle East and to seize control. Instead, the governments they targeted -- such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia -- have become some...
A nice counterpoint to Peter's discussion of the Administration's contempt (my word, not his) for international law: Arianna Huffington has a new post that says John Bolton's nomination may be in serious trouble:Item: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar abruptly pulls the plug on today's scheduled vote on John Bolton. Speculation: Lincoln Chafee wouldn't play nice and was ready to...
Reading through President Bush's speech yesterday on the commissions, war crimes, and secret detentions, it's striking how he repeatedly emphasized legality. At several points he asserted the lawfulness of the secret detention and of interrogation techniques (at one point noting that the program "has been subject to multiple legal reviews by the Department of Justice and CIA lawyers"). ...
Bobby Chesney (former guest blogger at Opinio Juris), Steve Vladeck (of Prawfsblawg) and Tung Yin (the Yin Blog) have just launched a new national security law blog titled National Security Advisors. Here is their description of the blog: Few areas of law or policy have been as important as national security during the five-year period following 9/11, and none have...
