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No Habeas Jurisdiction at Bagram

I'm sure others here at OJ will have more detailed views, but ...

EJILTalk Discussion of ‘The Rise of International Criminal Law’

In the category of advertisements for myself ... Julian was kind enough to mention that EJILTalk is hosting a discussion of an article of mine called The Rise of International Criminal Law, which appeared in EJIL last year as part of its 20th anniversary issues.  It was a relatively short, but wide-ranging essay trying to assess, twenty years on, where ICL has gone and is likely to go, on a whole series of otherwise unrelated issues.  EJIL ran a response in the print edition by Amrita Kapur, and in addition responses at the online blog by her and by Brad Roth.  I have finally managed to get a response together, which is quite long and will run in three posts.  The other responses are linked at the beginning of that post, as well.  I have to thank publicly EJILTalk for running such a long response, which in many ways is practically a new essay - but especially Amrita Kapur and Brad Roth for reading so closely and with such nuance my original article.  I'm very grateful to them for so much close reading and thought.  Below the fold is a bit from my response.

Naomi Campbell May Be Forced to Testify at Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal

This sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt by prosecutors at the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone, but it could very well work. Prosecutors want to subpoena Miss Campbell to testify over claims she was given the "large" diamond by Taylor after a 1997 dinner hosted in South Africa by former president Nelson Mandela. The one Taylor is accused of giving...

Keitner Takes on Bradley/Goldsmith on Government Official Immunity

Prof. Chimene Keitner at UC-Hastings has posted a short essay in the online version of the Yale Journal of International Law criticizing the novel and influential interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act proposed by Profs. Curtis Bradley and Jack Goldsmith.  In a series of articles, Bradley and Goldsmith have argued that the FSIA's immunity for "foreign state[s]" should be interpreted...

Security Contractors and Coast Guard Use “BP’s Rules” to Threaten Journalists with Arrest

John Robb notes the following on his excellent Global Guerillas blog: Coast Guard and BP's private military contractors team up to enforce media and scientific blackout (part of BP's information operations campaign) on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Here, they are caught on camera turning away a CBS film crew. Coast Guard officials say they are looking into the incident. I look forward...

How the White House Fell in Love with Drone Warfare

Interesting article from Reuters on the growth of drone warfare under the Obama administration.  One interesting note: drone attacks are being contemplated for Yemen, Somalia, and even against pirates.  Also, the key explanation for the Drone Wars appears to be the legal problems created by capturing, interrogating, and detaining individuals. Some current and former counterterrorism officials say an unintended consequence of...

President Obama Submits Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty to Senate

Last week, President Obama submitted the Treaty with Russia on Measures for the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms to the U.S. Senate.  Reading it is tough going, given all the technical terminology. A couple of not very profound observation: 1) Is this Treaty self-executing?  For the many pro-self execution folks, the answer should be yes (look at the Supremacy Clause!)....

Somali “Pirate” Pleads Guilty and Avoids Life Sentence

The young Somali captured last year in dramatic U.S. Navy operation has plea bargained himself into a minimum 27 year sentence. A Somali man has pleaded guilty in New York's court to seizing a US ship and kidnapping its captain last year. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse now faces a minimum of 27 years in prison. He is expected to be sentenced in October. Muse...

At Least Arizonans Don’t Commit “Burka Rage” Attacks

I guess this is why they need a ban on the burka in France. Stories like this make France seem decidedly more unpleasant for certain Muslims than Arizona is for illegal immigrants: France had its first case of “burka rage” at the weekend when a shopper allegedly tried to pull the veil from the face of a Muslim woman and the...

Supreme Court Goes Back to the International Well (Roper Redux)

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...

Can Richard Goldstone Be Barred from U.S.?

I seriously doubt it, but Richard Sher, a former Department of Justice official in the Office of Special Investigations, thinks Goldstone's apartheid-era past justifies denying Goldstone a visa to the U.S. In a letter sent to US officials, Neal Sher, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said that recently disclosed information about Goldstone’s apartheid-era rulings raised...