The Supreme Court denied cert. today in the case of Schneider v. Kissinger, a case involving a claim that Henry Kissinger, CIA Director Richard Helms, and the United States were liable for the Chilean coup led by Augusto Pinochet that deposed Salvador Allende. According to the D.C. Circuit opinion, the "complaint alleged that in 1970 the leader of the Chilean...
The tax man cometh. The overwhelming majority of us will dutifully pay our taxes today, perhaps with reservations, but not with actual resistance. For most I suspect income taxes are viewed as a regrettable but inevitable part of modern life. But as noted in various news reports, a small percentage will refuse to pay a portion of...
One of the enduring puzzles for international law and international relations scholars is determining when and why states resort to international dispute settlement and when and why they don't. Last week, a tribunal constituted under the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a decision delimiting the maritime boundary between Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, thus (partially) settling a long-time dispute between...
Last week, the Appellate Body of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body issued a ruling finding that the U.S. government improperly calculated the level of duties it imposed on Canadian lumber, in the long-running never-ending struggle between U.S. and Canadian lumber producers. The gist of this dispute is that the U.S. is claiming the right to impose duties on Canadian lumber on...
In his first Easter address, Pope Benedict XVI called on the international community to bring relief and security in Africa, peace in Iraq and in the Holy Land, assistance to the Palestinians, recognition of Israel, a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis with Iran, and an end to the threat of terrorism. If one wanted to identify the top...
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there were 762 active hate groups in the US as of 2004, ranging from neo-Nazis to the KKK to black separatists. To date, however, the Department of Homeland Security has not issued a single Homeland Security Assessment warning us about one of those groups. It has, however, just issued the following...
In addition to my treaties obsession, I seem to be spending more and more time each year following the U.S. national pasttime – baseball. This year, in addition to the on-the-field action, attention has swirled around the question of doping – who used steroids to amplify their physical performance, when did they use it, and what should baseball do about...
I want to recommend a wonderful book written by a dear friend and occasional collaborator, Brandt Goldstein. As the title indicates, it's the remarkable — and true — story of how a group of students at Yale Law School and Harold Koh shut down Guantanamo Bay in the early 1990s, when it was being used to illegally detain a group...
Melissa Waters over at Concurring Opinions discusses Justice Kennedy's speech at the ASIL and asks, "Is there anything new to be said on the subject of the role of foreign and international law in U.S. courts?" Good question. Here are a few suggestions: For those who propose a role for foreign and international law in constitutional interpretation,...
I don't know how I missed this, but in late March prosecutors from Poland's National Remembrance Institute, a government organization that investigates communist-era crimes, filed charges against General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland's final communist leader, for unconstitutionally imposing martial law in 1981. The move, which was designed to eliminate the Solidarity movement, led to the imprisonment of tens of...
Yesterday the New York Times had a lengthy, fawning obituary of William Sloane Coffin. Coffin was an historic figure who had his share of shining moments (1961 Freedom Rider) and controversial anti-war tactics (1967 draft dodging demonstrations). While he was far too much of an establishment anti-establishmentarian for my taste, give him credit for being a minister...
The Rwandan government has appointed a commission to investigate France's role in the country's 1994 genocide. The commission, which is slated to begin work on April 16th, includes Jean de Dieu Mucyo, Rwanda's Prosecutor General and a genocide survior, as well as Brigadier General Jerome Ngendahimana, a senior officer in the Rwanda Armed Forces (FAR) during the genocide. The...
