Samuel Moyn’s Unprincipled Attack on Human Rights Giant Michael Ratner Is Shameful
Samuel Moyn’s vicious and unprincipled attack on Michael Ratner, one of the finest human rights attorneys of our time, was published in the New York Review of Books (NYRB) on September 1. Moyn singles out Ratner as a whipping boy to support his own bizarre theory that punishing war crimes prolongs war by making it [...]
Defend Democracy Before It’s Too Late: A One-Page Bill Would Do It
America faces unprecedented and existential threats to voting rights, free and fair elections, and the very future of our democracy. Congress must take urgent action now — well within its constitutional powers — to stop these threats in their tracks. All it would take is a simple one-page bill. I have proposed a draft here. [...]
The Legal Possibility for Charging SEAL Eddie Gallagher with Perjury
It is well known that the United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (US SEALs) have serious problems. The SEAL community has been plagued by extreme drug use and sexual assaults and has been found to engage in the murder of one of their own Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel. All of these incidences have [...]
In JURIST’s latest explainer, we explore Title 42 § 265, which allows the U.S. President to prohibit the entry of people or property into the United States whenever the Surgeon General determines that there is a serious danger of the introduction of communicable disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued an order on March 20, [...]
One of the latest achievements of the criminal justice system is the acceptance of repentance, serf-reformation, and reconciliation, drifting from the classical concept of strict punishment as a measure against crime. The concept of providing amnesty emerged in the past as a means to correct any error in the judgment of courts, is now practiced [...]
Biden administration reinstates sanctions against Israel mining company accused of corruption
The US State Department reinstated sanctions for Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler on Monday, overturning an agreement made in the last week of the Trump administration. Gertler was sanctioned in 2017 over accusations of corruption and exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The US accused him of using his personal relationship with former [...]
Emma Coronel Aispuro, wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, was arrested in the US on Monday and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation to the US. She is a dual citizen of the US and Mexico and was arrested upon arrival at Dulles International airport outside of Washington, [...]
A Miscarriage of Justice: The Pleaing of Tony DeDolph and the Elusion of Accountability
On January 23, 2021, Chief Petty Officer Tony DeDolph of the U.S. Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) was sentenced to ten years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter of Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar of the U.S. Army Green Berets. DeDolph, “pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit assault, involuntary manslaughter, hazing, and obstruction of justice,” [...]
The Fake Filibuster: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy
Judging by much of the debate over the Senate filibuster rule, you’d think it was some honorable tradition worth keeping — “an elegant weapon of a more civilized age,” as Obi-Wan Kenobi described the lightsaber to Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars. Not so. The filibuster is a dangerous relic with a deeply destructive [...]
Biden directs US federal agencies to promote and protect LGBTQI+ rights abroad
US President Joe Biden issued a memorandum Thursday directing US federal agencies that are engaged abroad to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.” The memorandum states that it is building on a similar memorandum issued by President Obama in 2011, when Biden was serving as his vice-president. The Biden memorandum directs agencies [...]
