Explainer: The Israel-Hamas War and the International Criminal Court
The current conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine raises significant issues of international law and policy. This is part one in an anticipated two-part series that will discuss some of the relevant legal questions before the International Criminal Court (ICC; Part I) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ; Part II). With both courts located in [...]
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of President Biden’s speech criticizing the Supreme Court’s rejection of Roe v. Wade is that he gave the speech at all. Presidents historically have wisely refrained from commenting on Supreme Court decisions. Biden’s delivery of the speech on the very same morning that the Court delivered its opinion in Dobbs [...]
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 [...]
Explainer: Land Rights Dispute Leads to Clashes in East Jerusalem
This article was co-authored by Daniel Klapper (University of Pittsburgh School of Law, US) and Lubaina Baloch (University of Calgary School of Law, CA) What started as a local conflict in East Jerusalem in early May has rapidly emerged as a microcosm of the enduring land rights disputes between Israel and Palestine. A protest over [...]
On March 12, 2021, the Biden Administration designated Myanmar for temporary protective status (TPS). DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “Due to the military coup and security forces’ brutal violence against civilians, the people of Burma are suffering a complex and deteriorating humanitarian crisis in many parts of the country.” A few days earlier, Venezuela was [...]
Besides the fact that the legal system is an abstract entity incapable of possessing such anthropomorphic qualities, it has demonstrated a particularly bad track record for integrity. Some individual lawyers possess integrity; the law itself is a tool to be used for good or ill. But historically speaking, the mechanics of the American legal system [...]
Mandamus and the Proper Role of Amicus Curiae in the Michael Flynn Case
On Monday, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia filed his response to the petition for mandamus brought by General Michael Flynn in the D.C. Circuit regarding Sullivan’s handling of the Justice Department (DOJ) Motion to Dismiss the false statement charges against Flynn. Flynn had pleaded guilty to [...]
Federal appeals court allows Facebook privacy lawsuit to proceed
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that a privacy lawsuit against Facebook can proceed. Plaintiffs are Facebook users who allege that Facebook violated their privacy rights by tracking their internet activity after they logged out of the platform. Plaintiffs assert their privacy claims on behalf of themselves and users who [...]
The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy this week represents the end of an era and the beginning of the entrenchment of a more conservative Supreme Court, probably for years to come. That much seems clear. But there are actually many more sides to Justice Kennedy’s retirement than that simple statement implies. Justice Kennedy was nominated [...]
