Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
26 Jun Justice Breyer Rejects Pragmatic Comparativism in Heller
No surprise, the Supreme Court in the Second Amendment case of D.C. v. Heller refrains from any discussion of contemporary foreign or international laws or practices. The Court, per Justice Scalia, does discuss historical comparativism at some length (pp. 19-22), and Justice Stevens in dissent challenges this historical reading (pp. 27-31). But the really interesting part of Heller regarding comparativism comes from Justice Breyer’s dissent. He examines one amicus brief‘s pragmatic arguments that look to comparative experiences to suggest tighter gun control laws lead to more murders. (See my post...
10 Aug Doing Justice to History Symposium: Judicializing History in Jenin? Reflections on the Possibilities of Imagining Palestine Otherwise at the ICC
...suggest here that reading these two episodes in Jenin through Barrie Sander’s book, Doing Justice to History, offers a productive way to think through the historical possibilities of (criminal) judgment on Palestine at the ICC. What role has history played thus far in framing the ICC’s (highly limited and limiting jurisdictional) approach? What type of history could we expect to be written in any future judgment and how might this serve as a way to heal the wrongs of the past? In this short reflection, I consider some key points...27 Mar Justice Stevens Almost Gets It Right
In the beginning of his concurrence in Medellin, Justice Stevens reads Article 94 not to require the Texas state courts to take steps to ensure that the U.S. complys with the ICJ judgment. I disagree with his interpretation of “undertakes to comply,” but he’s almost convinced me that it’s a close question, at least with respect to whether the treaty (plus the Supremacy Clause) imposes an obligation on the state court to entertain a habeas petition that state law would otherwise foreclose. In any event, and more to the point,...16 May Justice Kennedy: "The (Legal) World is Flat"
the other branches have rejected) to interpret the U.S. Constitution. This is new stuff, and I don’t think (based on his own use of it in Lawrence and Roper) that Justice Kennedy himself has come up with an explanation of why it is so important to cite international treaties when interpreting the Constitution. No justice has offered a particularly impressive defense of this practice (see discussion of Ginsburg here and Breyer here). It’s too bad that the Justice can’t do better than simply telling us that the “world is flat”....27 Jun An African Backlash Against International Criminal Justice?
example, is facing prosecution through the African Union, a move which has had enthusiastic support from African human-rights advocates. Obviously, these are very difficult issues. My co-author Jide Nzelibe and I have discussed the costs of international criminal justice in Africa at length here in this forthcoming article in the Washington University Law Review, but we both would agree that there are no easy answers here. Hopefully, what is emerging in Africa should remind supporters of international criminal justice that there are downsides as well as upsides to these processes....18 Jun Guest Post: Exploring Legal Rationales for South Africa’s Failure to Arrest al-Bashir
arena would be to succumb to self-subversion, or worse, to surrender to the blackmail of perfection. It is better to bring some human rights abusers to justice than none at all: the best should not be the enemy of the good." The problem, of course, is that the belief that international criminal justice can make incremental headway in terms of reducing its selectivity is based on an article of faith, a faith which the history of international criminal justice to date would suggest is misplaced. Nonetheless, I imagine most would...03 Dec Events and Announcements: 3 December 2023
...limited so register here to claim your spot! Decolonizing International Justice: Strategies Towards Structural Justice for Slavery and Colonial Crimes: On the occasion of the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mexico and Argentina, the Emergent Justice Collective, UN Women, Human Rights Watch, Justice Rapid Response, Promise Institute at UCLA Law and the Center for Justice and Accountability are pleased to invite you to this side event on 5 December...