Digital Commons Network^™

Witt V. Department Of The Air Force Subjects "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" To Intermediate Scrutiny, Jessica L. Beeler

Golden Gate University Law Review

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ("DADT") refers to the statutory U.S. policy of excluding openly homosexual individuals from serving in the military. It prohibits members of the armed forces from engaging in homosexual acts, stating that they are gay or bisexual, or openly marrying a person of the same sex. Although the constitutionality of DADT has been upheld several times in federal Court, these cases preceded the United States Supreme Court's holding in Lawrence v. Texas. In Lawrence, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas antisodomy statute as unconstitutional and declared that the private homosexual conduct targeted by the law was …

Case For Overseas Article Iii Courts: The Blackwater Effect And Criminal Accountability In The Age Of Privatization, The, Alan F. Williams

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A series of high-profile cases involving the alleged murders of Iraqi civilians by U.S. contractors operating overseas has highlighted the longstanding problem of how best to address crimes committed overseas by civilian employees, dependents, or contractors of the U.S. government. Among the most notorious of these incidents is the alleged killing of seventeen Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad on September 16, 2007 by employees of Blackwater Worldwide, a private corporation specializing in military operations that has subsequently renamed itself "Xe."2News reports of this incident prompted embarrassment and outrage as many Americans learned that U.S. civilian contractors like the …

Free Speech And The Military Recruiter: Reaffirming The Marketplace Of Ideas, Charles G. Kels

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Filling The Criminal Liability Gap For Private Military Contractors Abroad: U.S. V. Slough And The Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act Of 2010, Missye Brickell

Legislation and Policy Brief

To ensure that all contractors who commit crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan can be prosecuted effectively in the United States, Congress must pass legislation to update Federal criminal law and fill the gaps that may leave certain types of contractors free from any criminal liability. The Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2010 (CEJA) attempts to do just that, and while it may deter some PMCs from participating in the U.S. military and security contracting market, the benefits of having a fully accountable U.S. legal system outweigh the drawbacks for individual contracting companies.

“Bring[Ing] Our Enemies To Justice”: Terrorism And The Court, Anna Elazan

Legislation and Policy Brief

This article focuses on the venue of Mohammad’s trial and is broken into three sections. The first section reviews the historical use of military tribunals. This section begins by looking at the basis for Presidential authority to authorize the use of military commissions. This section then outlines the first use of military commissions since World War II. President George W. Bush’s authorization parallels the provisions in President Franklin Roosevelt’s authorization of the use of commissions in the 1940s. However, following authorization, the military commissions were subject to judicial challenges and significant revision by Congress. Finally, this section tracks recent developments …

“For Any Reason”: Paper Promises To Protect Service Members, Tami Martin

Legislation and Policy Brief

In short, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) is the law that prohibits lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals from serving openly in the military. Despite the fact that the Obama Administration has yet to fulfill the campaign promise of ending DADT, many believe the question is more "when" than "if" it will be repealed. Much attention has focused on ending the policy, but it is also important to consider what might happen after repeal. This article briefly examines the history of DADT, major policies meant to protect service members from harassment they experience because of their actual or perceived sexual …

Dronenburg V. Zech: Fundamental Rights And The Military, Robert A. Dalby

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Dronenburg v. Zech, the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, upheld the discharge of a Navy Petty Officer on the grounds that he had engaged in homosexual relations while a member of the service. The initial basis for the discharge was Instruction 1900.9C, promulgated by the Secretary of the Navy, which provided for the "separation" from the naval service of any member who "solicits, attempts, or engages in homosexual acts." In reaching its decision, the court held that the Navy had not violated Dronenburg's constitutional rights to privacy and equal protection of the laws. The court …

Rostker V. Goldberg: The Uneven Development Of The Equal Protection Doctrine In Military Affairs, Sara Macdwyer

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note examines the Court's refusal in Goldberg to apply heightened scrutiny to a discriminatory statute. The Court never satisfactorily answered the constitutional challenge: Whether, under the equal protection component of the fifth amendment's due process clause, women as a class may be excluded from military registration. Further, this Note argues that the Court improperly and unnecessarily deferred to congressional findings in ruling that Congress acted within its authority by registering only men.

Adding Force Behind Military Sexual Assault Reform: The Role Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Ending Intra-Military Sexual Assault, Mitsie Smith

Buffalo Journal of Gender, Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Just War In International Law: An Argument For A Deontological Approach To Humanitarian Law, Ryan Dreveskracht

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify-An Analysis Of Two Decades Of Judicial Review In The Veterans' Benefits Adjudication System, Rory E. Riley

West Virginia Law Review

Prior to the Veterans' Judicial Review Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs existed in "splendid isolation," meaning that the Department was insu- lated from judicial review by statute. After the due process revolution of the 1960s and pressure from various veterans' organizations after the Vietnam War, Congress passed the Veterans' Judicial Review Act in 1988. The Act created the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, an Article I court with exclusive jurisdiction over decisions by the Board of Veterans' Appeals. This Article argues that twenty years after the Veterans' Judicial Review Act was imple- mented, the system has become …

Physical-Strength Rationales For De Jure Exclusion Of Women From Military Combat Positions, Maia Goodell

Seattle University Law Review

Women have been serving in the military in steadily increasing numbers for decades. Nevertheless, the military remains one of the few areas in which the U.S. government decides what roles are open to women based on de jure exclusions. This Article examines the law governing de jure classification, noting that a mere normative belief about women’s proper place in society is an insufficient basis to justify a sex-based exclusion. It then probes the most common rationale advanced in support of the continued de jure exclusion of women: physical strength. The Article examines four problems with the physical strength rationale: (1) …

Fighting The War On Terrorism With The Legal System: A Defense Of Military Commissions, Jessica Erin Tannenbaum

Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law

In early 2002, the United States began transporting prisoners captured in Afghanistan to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Almost immediately, an uproar broke out over the detention of prisoners there. The United States was, and continues to be, almost universally criticized by the international community for its handling of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The most common criticisms are of the detention of accused terrorists without charges and the indefinite detention of non-citizens certified as dangers to national security as authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act. Although all of the issues regarding the detention of prisoners in the War …

Mōri V. Japan: The Nagoya High Court Recognizes The Right To Live In Peace, Hudson Hamilton

Washington International Law Journal

The following is a translation of the Nagoya High Court’s decision in Mōri v. Japan, a case challenging the constitutionality of Japan’s deployment of its Self-Defense Forces (“SDF”) to the Middle East in connection with the United States-led occupation of Iraq. Beginning in December of 2003, Japan deployed ground and air forces of the SDF to the Middle East, including three C-130H “Hercules” transport aircraft which were used to airlift coalition forces and supplies between Kuwait and Baghdad. In response, more than 5,700 citizens, represented by over 800 attorneys, filed lawsuits in eleven district courts across the country in …

Seeking Civilian Control: Rule Of Law, Democracy, And Civil-Military Relations In Zimbabwe, Jeremiah I. Williamson

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Rule of law and democratic reform projects often concern lofty questions of constitutional law. But in many countries desperate for reform, deeply entrenched social and political problems present preconditions to any discussion of constitutional reforms aimed at democracy and the rule of law. Zimbabwe is one such nation, which like many others faces the problem of military intervention into domestic politics. This Note examines structural and historical aspects of Zimbabwe's military problem and utilizes the theory of objective civilian control to demonstrate the plausibility of meaningful reforms. In so doing, this Note provides a demonstrative model for reforming civilmilitary relations …

Once More Unto The Breach: American War Power And A Second Legislative Attempt To Ensure Congressional Input, Jonathan T. Menitove

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Once again embroiled in an unpopular overseas armed conflict, the United States faces difficult questions concerning the constitutional use of military force. Records from the Constitutional Convention suggest the Framers intended to lodge America's power to go to war with the Congress. While American presidents' early use of military force displays deference to the legislature, more recent military actions illustrate the executive's dominance in making war. Notwithstanding a few early court decisions in Congress 's favor, the judiciary has been unhelpful in restoring the constitutional Framers' vision for the administration of the war power Congress, therefore, has been forced to …

The Impact Of Civilian Aggravating Factors On The Military Death Penalty (1984-2005): Another Chapter In The Resistance Of The Armed Forces To The Civilianization Of Military Justice, Catherine M. Grosso, David C. Baldus, George Woodworth

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In 1984, the U.S. Armed Forces amended its capital punishment system for death eligible murder to bring it into compliance with Furman v. Georgia. Those amendments were modeled after death penalty legislation prevailing in over thirty states. After a brief period between 1986 and 1990, the charging decisions of commanders and the conviction and sentencing decisions of court martial members (jurors) transformed the military death penalty system into a dual system that treats two classes of death eligible murder quite differently. Since 1990, a member of the armed forces accused of a killing a commissioned officer or murder with a …

The Untouchables: Private Military Contractors' Criminal Accountability Under The Ucmj, Katherin J. Chapman

Vanderbilt Law Review

September 16, 2007 has been called Baghdad's "Bloody Sunday."' On that scorching afternoon in Baghdad, Iraq, a team of Blackwater Worldwide private military contractors slew seventeen Iraqi civilianS and wounded twenty-seven others. A Blackwater spokesperson claimed that the civilian contractors reacted in response to an attack by enemy combatants and "heroically defended American lives." Despite such claims, U.S. soldiers who arrived at the scene within twenty-five minutes found no evidence of enemy activity and characterized the event as criminal. Despite such evidence and notwithstanding four potential sources of criminal law-international law, host-nation law, U.S. civilian law, and U.S. military law-these …

Terrorism And The Law: Show Trials And Why The Show Must Go On, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the nature and meaning of terrorism trials during the United States’ war on terror.

Genocide Myopia: How Reframing Mass Atrocity Could Backfire, Sonia Cardenas

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The United States has long viewed genocide and mass atrocity as tragic, moral problems divorced from national interests. This may be changing under the Obama administration, with genocide and mass atrocity being reframed as problems to be solved pragmatically. Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher celebrate this “unprecedented breakthrough” in Foreign Policy, urging President Obama to follow up with specific measures: strategic military planning, interagency coordination, firm leadership, and concrete action on Darfur. Despite the promise of overcoming inaction and focusing on prevention, the new vision of genocide and mass atrocity Abramowitz and Woocher depict remains myopic. It is narrowly focused …

A Break From The Old Routine...., Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Abramowitz and Woocher highlight a potentially significant shift in policy discourse in international relations with respect to humanitarianism and the prevention of genocide. For many years, the United States has suffered from the twin problems of the human rights “double standard” and “Catch-22.” On the one hand, particular countries have been seen as vital by the United States for intervention on humanitarian grounds even though many believed other geostrategic interests are at stake (e.g. Kosovo in 1999) and others have not (e.g. Rwanda in 1994). On the other hand, US intervention on humanitarian grounds can be criticized as heavy-handed or …

Do Drones Have A Silver Lining?, David Akerson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher’s article, “How Genocide Became a National Security Threat,” flags an important milestone in American foreign policy, namely that mass atrocities might now be appropriately viewed as the national security threats that they are. The problem with translating this policy development into action is the next and not insignificant challenge. Aerial drones may be key to overcoming it.

On Genocide And The National Interest, James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the second presidential debate, Barack Obama said, in response to a question about the crisis in Darfur, that “when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us. And so I do believe that we have to consider it as part of our interests, our national interests, in intervening where possible.” In a similar vein, Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher highlight how genocide is increasingly being seen as a security threat by the White House.

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - Still A Chilling Vision After All These Years, Bob Barr

Michigan Law Review

In Part I of this Review, I provide an overview of Brave New World and place it in its proper historical context. In Part II, I explore the parallels between Huxley's World State and post-9/11 America. In Part III, I argue that Brave New World provides prescient warning signs about the dangers of excessive government interference in the economy-warning signs that are of particular importance in the face of the recent economic crisis.

The Price Of Conflict: War, Taxes, And The Politics Of Fiscal Citizenship, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Michigan Law Review

This Review proceeds in four parts, paralleling the chronological organization of War and Taxes. It focuses mainly on the book's analysis of the leading modern American wars, from the Civil War through the global conflicts of the twentieth century, up to the recent war on terror. Part I contrasts the tax policies of the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War to show how the Lincoln Administration was able to overcome Yankee resistance to wartime tax hikes to wage a war against a Southern Confederacy that resolutely resisted any type of centralized taxation until, of course, it was too late. …

Energy Independence And Climate Change: The Economic And National Security Consequences Of Failing To Act, Mark E. Rosen

University of Richmond Law Review

This article draws heavily from the works of the CNA MAB, namely the twin and interrelated challenges arising from imprudent reliance on fossil fuels by developed and developing countries, as well as the serious environmental and national security"externalities" that directly result from current consumptive trends.

Marten Zwanenburg On Killer Robots: Legality And Ethicality Of Autonomous Weapons. By Armin Krishnan. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. 240pp., Marten Zwanenburg

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Killer Robots: Legality and Ethicality of Autonomous Weapons. By Armin Krishnan. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. 240pp.

Paul Okojie On Darfur And The Crisis Of Governance In Sudan: A Critical Reader. Edited By Salah M. Hassan And Carina E. Ray. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009. 528pp., Paul Okojie

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan: A Critical Reader. Edited by Salah M. Hassan and Carina E. Ray. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009. 528pp.

Responses To The Ten Questions, Jeffrey Kahn

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Responses To The Ten Questions, Mary Ellen O'Connell

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.