Israel versus Hamas: Proportionality, Perfidy and the Law of War
“It must not be forgotten that it is perhaps more dangerous for a nation to allow itself to be conquered intellectually than by arms.” -Guillaume Apollinaire, The New Spirit and the Poets (1917) Whenever Israel finds itself in the midst of major conflict with Hamas, each side seeks to defend itself in military and legal [...]
American Nuclear Strategy: A Complex Problem of Law and Intellect
“In the end, we still depend upon creatures of our own making.” -Goethe, Faust On core matters of national security, American analysts should think in terms of intellectual and legal criteria. Ignoring the day-to-day banalities of national and international politics, these strategists and policy-makers ought continuously to bear in mind that such primary standards may [...]
Will Guantanamo Continue As An Unnecessary Presidential Legacy?
Almost five years ago I contributed to a Commentary to JURIST entitled, “Guantanamo: An Unnecessary Presidential Legacy,” which focused on former President Barack Obama’s unsuccessful attempt to shut down the Guantanamo prison facility because of missed opportunities, faulty decision making, internal administration opposition and ultimately partisan political division that resulted in an unnecessary presidential legacy. [...]
“States shall not take….any measures which may be prejudicial to the international obligations they have assumed in regard to the detection, arrest, extradition and punishment of persons guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.” – Principles of International Cooperation, General Assembly Resolution, 1973 “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals, [...]
US President Donald Trump granted Tuesday full pardons to 15 individuals and commuted part or entire sentences of another five individuals. Among those pardoned are George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, both convicted of making false statements to the FBI as part of the Mueller investigation. The White House emphasized that these were “process-related crimes” and [...]
On December 9, 2020 argument is scheduled for Collins v. Mnuchin at the Supreme Court. The case originated in the Fifth Circuit and the Court of Appeals issued an en banc opinion on September 6, 2019. The primary questions before the Court are whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s structure violates the separation of powers and [...]
Age Bar on Legal Education in India: A Human Rights Violation
Recently, a 77-year-old Indian woman moved to the Supreme Court of India because she was denied admission by multiple law colleges. The woman, who is passionate about the subject desired to gain knowledge by enrolling herself in a 3-year LLB course. However, to her utter dismay, she was denied admission because of the Bar Council of India [...]
Examining Airline Market Power in Light of COVID-19 Bailouts
Giants run the airline industry. Today, four airlines, American, United, Delta, and Southwest, control over 65 percent of the market. They achieved this level of dominance in just the past twenty years, with merger after merger cutting the number of major airlines left today into less than half the number that existed in 2000. The [...]
Deprived of Voice or Home: Disability Rights Under National and International Law in Hungary
In 2007, Hungary ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a wide-ranging and forward-thinking treaty designed to advance the human rights of those with disabilities. This reflected on the international level what Hungary seemed to be doing on the national level. The year before, Hungary adopted a new National Disability Programme [...]
In the late 1920s scratch farmers and loggers were facing an unseen threat in the isolated forests of the inland Pacific Northwest of America. Crops were scarred and charred. They had stunted timber yields. The culprit turned out to be a huge zinc smelter In Trail, British Columbia that bellowed sulfurous fumes from across the [...]
