Law Commons^™

Self-Defense To Cyber Force: Combatting The Notion Of 'Scale And Effect', Thomas Eaton

Scholarly Works

The ability to reach out, with a few keystrokes or a couple lines of code, through the interconnected world of cyberspace and create militarily advantageous effects 10,000 miles away has changed warfare as previously conceived, perhaps more than any other advancement in any other domain of war. Cyber weapons are weapons, and whatever law applies to conventional weapons equally applies to cyber weapons. Long before cyber operations were even science fiction, there was much debate over what constituted a use of force that would justify force in response. In many ways, the debate over what constitutes cyber-attacks has been pasted …

Due Process Of War, Nathan Chapman

Scholarly Works

The application of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the government’s deprivation of rights during war is one of the most challenging and contested questions of constitutional law. The Supreme Court has not provided a consistent or historically informed framework for analyzing due process during war. Based on the English background, the text and history of the U.S. Constitution, and early American practice, this Article argues that due process was originally understood to apply to many but not to all deprivations of rights during war. It proposes a framework for analyzing due process during war that accords …

Due Process Of War, Nathan Chapman

Scholarly Works

The application of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the government’s deprivation of rights during war is one of the most challenging and contested questions of constitutional law. The Supreme Court has not provided a consistent or historically informed framework for analyzing due process during war. Based on the English background, the text and history of the U.S. Constitution, and early American practice, this Article argues that due process was originally understood to apply to many but not to all deprivations of rights during war. It proposes a framework for analyzing due process during war that accords …

Book Review: Reimagining Child Soldiers In International Law And Policy By Mark A. Drumbl., Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Book review of Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy by Mark A. Drumbl(New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2012).

The “Ethical” Surplus Of The War On Illegal Immigration, Francis J. Mootz Iii, Leticia M. Saucedo

Scholarly Works

The Aristotelian philosopher, Gene Garver, suggests that rhetorical claims have an "ethical surplus" that extends beyond the specific claim being advanced at the moment. This follows from the fact that rhetoric includes not only logos, but also pathos and ethos. We adopt the thesis of "ethical surplus," but in a negative context. The "war on illegal immigration" has generated an ethical surplus that leads its promoters beyond the specific claim of securing borders against unlawful entry. After demonstrating that there is an express rhetoric of "war" used in connection with Arizona's adoption of recent anti-immigrant legislation, we explore …

Redressing Colonial Genocide: The Hereros' Cause Of Action Against Germany, Rachel J. Anderson

Scholarly Works

In February 2003, the Herero People's Reparations Corporation filed a complaint against Germany in the District Court of the District of Columbia alleging violations of international law, crimes against humanity, genocide, slavery, and forced labor before, during, and after the German-Herero War (1904-07). The German government, modern scholars, and other commentators have long taken the position that genocides committed by colonial governments in the nineteenth century did not violate international law at that time. Arguments for this position rely, inter alia, on the belief that all forms of genocide were first criminalized and made punishable by the 1948 U.N. Convention …

The Turner Thesis, Black Migration, And The (Misapplied) Immigrant Explanation Of Black Poverty, John Valery White

Scholarly Works

Underlying most debates of racial inequality is the tacit reference to the Immigrant Tale, a story of “natural” class ascension of immigrant groups in the “land of opportunity.” This tale is affirming, celebrating the assimilation of ethnic immigrants in the American “melting pot.” It is also optimistic, implying social integration and economic parity of currently dissipated immigrant communities. “Its thrust is to defend the individualistic view of the American system because it portrays the system as open to those who are willing to work hard and pull themselves over barriers of poverty and discrimination.”

But there is an unsavory element …

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 …

Persecution In The Fog Of War: The House Of Lords’ Decision In Adan, Michael Kagan, William P. Johnson

Scholarly Works

International law requires that a refugee have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. It is not enough to be at risk of being persecuted, nor is it even enough to be a member of a particular race or religion. There must be a “nexus” between the danger and one of the five Convention-recognized reasons for persecution. In the 1998 decision in Adan v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, the House of Lords concluded that a man fleeing clan warfare in Somalia could not …

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 …

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 …