Law Commons^™

"To Kill A Cleric?: The Al-Awlaki Case And The Chaplaincy Exception Under The Laws Of War", K Benson

K Benson

Anwar al-Awlaki was the first American citizen to be targeted for extrajudicial assassination by the Obama administration. While scholarly attention has focused on legality of his killing under domestic law, his status as a chaplain under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has gone unexamined. The possibility that Anwar al-Awlaki may have been a protected person as a chaplain has profound ramifications for the legality of his killing and for the conduct of the war on terror more generally. As the definition of a "Chaplain" under IHL is under-developed at best and vague at worst, ideologues such as Mr. al-Awlaki operate in …

The Ghost In The Global War On Terror: Critical Perspectives And Dangerous Implications For National Security And The Law, Nick J. Sciullo

Nick J. Sciullo

In this Article, I set out to discuss the dangerous implications of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and, more generally, the at- tempts of the United States government to address notions of terror- ism and its effect on the safety of the United States and world citizens. I am primarily concerned with engaging a poststructuralist critique of the GWOT to strengthen legal discussions of terrorism and national security policy. While many in the legal academy have focused on particular issues relating to terrorism, I will engage in a macro-level analysis of the way the legal academy conceptualizes terrorism—not how …

During And In Relation To: How The Ninth Circuit Rewrote A Statute In The Case Of The Millennium Bomber, Peter A. Talevich

Seattle University Law Review

This Note analyzes the facts of the Ressam case and the legal analysis applied to it by both the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court. Part II discusses the intriguing history of the Ressam case. Part III examines the Ninth Circuit's reasoning in Ressam and shows why the Supreme Court was correct in reversing the improperly decided case. Part IV discusses the possible scope of the explosives statute under each interpretation--without or with a relational element. Finally, Part V concludes by commenting on the future of the explosives statute in light of the Supreme Court's decision, as well as the …

The Myopia Of U.S. V. Martinelli: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction In The 21st Century, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Beginning in January 1999 and continuing through January 2000, a U.S. soldier began frequenting an off-post Internet cafe in Darmstadt, Germany, called the Netzwork Café. There he would download images of child pornography and search Internet websites, logging onto Internet chat rooms in order to communicate with individuals willing to send him images of naked children and children engaged in sex acts.

Specialist Martinelli was eventually caught and charged with various violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A for knowingly mailing, transporting or shipping child pornography in interstate or foreign commerce (by computer); knowingly receiving child pornography that had been mailed, …

Sending The Bureaucracy To War, Elena Baylis, David Zaring

Articles

Administrative law has been transformed after 9/11, much to its detriment. Since then, the government has mobilized almost every part of the civil bureaucracy to fight terrorism, including agencies that have no obvious expertise in that task. The vast majority of these bureaucratic initiatives suffer from predictable, persistent, and probably intractable problems - problems that contemporary legal scholars tend to ignore, even though they are central to the work of the writers who created and framed the discipline of administrative law.

We analyze these problems through a survey of four administrative initiatives that exemplify the project of sending bureaucrats to …

Policing Post-9/11, Robert J. Louden

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This paper therefore is an attempt to consider post-September 11 law enforcement activities in the context of organized policing in America. Many concepts and procedures used as illustrations have been undertaken by various police agencies. This demonstrates how previously accepted police practices may be changed in part by reaction to crisis legislation or other influences. New York City programs may or may not serve as benchmarks for other agencies. In these times of threat and response some important factors about preparing police for role change became apparent. First, there is a need to specify the new reality and determine what …

The “Threat Of Terrorism” And The Right To The Cit, Peter Marcuse

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Restrictions on the everyday use of public space; restrictions on access to public buildings; restrictions on political expression and assembly for political purposes; restrictions on the freedom of immigrants to use public facilities and services in the city; increased segregation, exclusion, and concentrated decentralization of residences and economic activities are all key examples of the way the false threat of terrorism has been used to restrict rights to the city. The Right to the City has never been fully recognized in modern times. The false response to the threat of terrorism has made its realization even more remote.

Fordham Urban Law Journal - Essay- Local Policing In A Post - 9/11 World

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The era following September 11, 2001 will be remembered as the golden age of law enforcement, the age of a bold paradigm shift inspired by the great challenges we face. It is instructive first to reflect on the old paradigm: as law enforcement agencies, we moved like swimmers in different lanes, all going the same direction with the same mission, yet also working by and for ourselves. Each criminal justice agency dealt with its own issues, staying—for the most part—in its own lane. Then, 9/11 changed everything. Indeed, it is our turn to be the greatest generation. Just as World …

Wings For Talons: The Case For Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Over Sexual Exploitation Of Children Through Cyberspace, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

To cope more effectively with the changed landscape of child exploitation, it is necessary for laws to expand their extraterritorial reach. Some statutes in the “child exploitation arena” have already been ruled to apply extraterritorially. The prime example of this is 18 U.S.C. § 2252 (2004) (certain activities relating to the material involving the sexual exploitation of minors). Two of the more useful statutes in combating online pedophiles are 18 U.S.C. § 1470 (2003) (transfer of obscene materials to minors) and 18 U.S.C. § 2422 (2003) (coercion and enticement). These latter statutes, however, have yet to receive significant or …

Trends. Suicidal Terrorism And The Death Penalty, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses why an established death penalty for terrorists who would, by their own actions, suicide might be appropriate.

Trends. Social Cognition And The Legal Adjudication Of Terrorism Cases, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the impact of terrorism on the justice system and security.

Ruminations On Terrorism & Anti-Terrorism In Law And Literature, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Discussing terrorism in light of the September 11 atrocities is daunting. It requires one to wonder how to maintain an equilibrium in the face of a menace that wishes its own death as long as it flows from the slaughter of ‘the enemy.‘ How is it possible to combat this menace without falling into a trap of hatred or blind fear that leads to the use of terror to fight terrorism? The overarching issues relating to September 11, terrorism, and counter-terrorism include: whether oppression can provide any justification for that atrocity; similarly, whether that attack calls for or allows self-defense …

Winning The Battle While Losing The War: Ramifications Of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Of Review's First Decision, Stephanie Kornblum

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will outline the history preceding the passage of FISA, including a discussion of the cases from which the "primary purpose test" arose. The Note will then explore the language of the FISA statute, and the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals' continuing reliance on the "primary purpose" test in the analysis of cases decided following the passage of FISA. Following a discussion of the historic FISC and FISA Review Court opinions in Parts III and IV, including an articulation of the Patriot Act amendments to FISA, Part V of the Note will focus on the ramifications of the Review …

The Terrors Of Dealing With September 11th, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Trends. Terrorism And The Death Penalty, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article examines the prudence of seeking the death penalty against a defendant implicated in the bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The Autumn Of The Patriarch: The Pinochet Extradition Debacle And Beyond- Human Rights Clauses Compared To Traditional Derivative Protections Such As Double Criminality, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

This article will analyze human rights law to see whether it plays any role in the protection of the individual in the face of international extradition or other international cooperation in criminal matters. I will consider two approaches to extradition and human rights that seem to be vying for position in the world arena and the tension between them. The first is to apply the traditional statist exemptions to extradition, which sometimes have enabled a few human rights protections. This approach is based on the concept that states are the only subjects of international law. Thus, it is state's interests, …

History Repeating Itself: The (D)Evolution Of Recent British And Antiterrorist Antiterrorism Legislation, Gregory C. Clark

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Through a study of historical development, this note compares the current antiterrorism legislation in the United States and the United Kingdom. In Part I, the author first sets out the history of British attempts to counter terrorism looking specifically at Northern Ireland. He then discusses parallel American law noting the numerous civil rights violations that came with the laws of each country. In Part II, the author investigates provisions of the United State’s Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), and Britain’s Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act of 1998 (“EPA”) and Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act of …

State Support Of International Terrorism: Legal, Political And Economic Dimensions, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

In this piece, Professor Blakesley reviews “State Support of International Terrorism: Legal, Political, and Economic Dimensions” by John F. Murphy.

The Modern Blood Feud: Thoughts On The Philosophy Of Terrorism, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Herman Melville brilliantly lets us feel, through Captain Ahab, the sensation of destructive rage, hatred and violence. Sadly, Melville's insight penetrates to the core of society, perhaps of each of us, in today's omnipresent terroristic melodrama. We have all suffered moments of vicarious terror and rage over the past few years as we watched news accounts of terrorist incidents, such as the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The melodrama of terrorism has penetrated each of our lives. We see it and feel the rage nearly on a daily basis. Innocent children, women and men aboard Pan …

Major Contemporary Issues In Extradition Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

In this piece Professor Blakesley provides remarks on high crimes in international law, and the ability to extradite state and high government officials for committing them.

Terrorism, Law, And Our Constitutional Order, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

We have all suffered moments of vicarious terror over the past few years as we watched news accounts of terrorist incidents, such as the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. There, some institution, government, or group used innocent children, women, and men as fodder for their “war.” Some have claimed that the pusillanimous carnage was in retaliation for the slaughter of equivalent innocents aboard the Iranian Air Bus, similarly destroyed by American forces during the summer of 1988. Others suggested that it was committed by those interested in thwarting prospects of peace in the Middle East.

Combatting …

Drugs And Small Arms: Can Law Stop The Traffic?, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Professor Blakesley presides over this panel discussion on laws combating the illegal importation of drugs and small arms, and their implications for international and domestic law.

Jurisdiction As Legal Protection Against Terrorism, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

On June 14, 1985, Robert Stethem was shot to death aboard a hijacked TWA airliner. On October 7, 1985, the Italian cruise-liner, Achille Lauro, was hijacked and the next day Leon Klinghofer was killed and thrown overboard. On Julyu 2, 1986, Rodrgio Rojas was mortally wounded when he was doused with gasoline and set afire while walking with protesters in Santiago, Chile. Soviets are said to leave booby-trapped dolls for Afghan Moujahadeen children. There is evidence that the United States government directly supports the Nicaraguan contras who, in waging their guerilla war, allegedly have killed innocent citizens. It is …

Terrorism And The Constitution, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

How do terrorism and the Iran-Contra hearings relate to the Constitution? My thesis is that there is a tendency for the executive of this or any nation to eschew even constitutionally mandated avenues of problem solving considered to be cumbersome, inefficient, or inimical to the executive’s vision of the national interest in foreign affairs. There is also a tendency to consider one’s own conduct and the conduct of one’s allies and friends to be justified when it is directed at goals deemed by the executive branch to be good. Constitutional provisions based on the checks and balances and separation of …

An Essay On Executive Branch Attempts To Eviscerate The Separation Of Powers, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

The Reagan Administration has been aggressively attempting to arrogate power to the Executive branch and to undermine the separation of powers in the realms of foreign affairs. To Chain the Dog of War shows that for decades the Executive branch has moved to appropriate Congress’ war powers. The Reagan Administration not only has continued that tradition, but also has attempted to erode the Judiciary’s power to decide questions of law and fact concerning human rights and liberty in international extradition cases involving political offenses. The underlying rationale for this shift has been that decisions to make war or to condemn …

The Evisceration Of The Political Offense Exception To Extradition, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

The Supplementary Convention to the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of American and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was signed on June 25, 1985, and transmitted to the U.S. Senate on July 17, 1985. This article will focus on the portion of the supplementary treaty which effectively eliminates the political offense exception, and on the statement made by the Legal Adviser to the Department of State, the honorable Judge Abraham D. Sofaer, made in favor of the Supplementary Treaty, on August 1, 1985. This article suggests that approval of …