Law Commons^™

At War With Civil Rights And Civil Liberties, Thomas E. Baker

Thomas E. Baker

No abstract provided.

Decoupling 'Terrorist' From 'Immigrant': An Enhanced Role For The Federal Courts Post 9/11, Victor C. Romero

Victor C. Romero

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft has utilized the broad immigration power ceded to him by Congress to ferret out terrorists among noncitizens detained for minor immigration violations. Such a strategy provides the government two options: deport those who are not terrorists, and then prosecute others who are. While certainly efficient, using immigration courts and their less formal due process protections afforded noncitizens should trigger greater oversight and vigilance by the federal courts for at least four reasons: First, while the legitimate goal of immigration law enforcement is deportation, Ashcroft's true objective in targeting …

The Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Divide, Christopher W. Schmidt

Christopher W. Schmidt

Contemporary legal discourse differentiates “civil rights” from “civil liberties.” The former are generally understood as protections against discriminatory treatment, the latter as freedom from oppressive government authority. This Essay explains how this differentiation arose and considers its consequences.

Although there is a certain inherent logic to the civil rights-civil liberties divide, it in fact is the product of the unique circumstances of a particular moment in history. In the early years of the Cold War, liberal anticommunists sought to distinguish their incipient interest in the cause of racial equality from their belief that national security required limitations on the speech …

Dean’S Message, Lawrence Raful

Lawrence Raful

No abstract provided.

The Constitution Of Belarus: A Good First Step Towards The Rule Of Law, Gary M. Shaw

Gary M. Shaw

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Dennis Ferguson Debate: Part 2, Jodie O'Leary

Jodie O'Leary

Extract: Recently I received a cause invitation from an old school friend on Facebook. The cause was to support micro-chipping of all paedophiles. I rejected that invitation. All I could think of was the microchip embedded in my Labrador. The way I understand that chip to work is that if someone finds my dog wandering the streets they can take him to a vet or the RSPCA who will then scan the chip and return him to me. The obvious question seemed to be: how would such a measure help protect children? After all, protection of children is the goal …

Network Accountability For The Domestic Intelligence Apparatus, Danielle Keats Citron, Frank Pasquale

Danielle Keats Citron

A new domestic intelligence network has made vast amounts of data available to federal and state agencies and law enforcement officials. The network is anchored by “fusion centers,” novel sites of intergovernmental collaboration that generate and share intelligence and information. Several fusion centers have generated controversy for engaging in extraordinary measures that place citizens on watch lists, invade citizens’ privacy, and chill free expression. In addition to eroding civil liberties, fusion center overreach has resulted in wasted resources without concomitant gains in security. While many scholars have assumed that this network represents a trade-off between security and civil liberties, our …

Antisemitism In The Academic Voice: Confronting Bigotry Under The First Amendment, Kenneth Lasson

Kenneth Lasson

Among the abuses of the academic enterprise that have been taking place in American universities over the past several decades, and continue to this day, are failures of intellectual rigor: the abandonment of reliance on facts, common sense, and logic in the pursuit of narrow political agendas – which all too often presented in the academic voice. Students today increasingly find themselves confronted by curricula manipulated by scholarly extremists. While the number of overt antisemitic incidents has declined markedly in the United States over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in anti-Zionist rhetoric and activity on …

Civil Liberties Lost, Waterboarding And The Legacy Of The Bybee-Yoo 'Torture-Power' Memorandum: Reflections From An Erstwhile Bush Administration Apologist, M. Katherine B. Darmer

M. Katherine B. Darmer

This symposium piece argues that waterboarding is torture and that torture is wrong. It reflects on the enduring legacy of the August 1, 2002 memo defining torture narrowly, which this paper describes as the Bybee and Yoo Torture and Power Memorandum [or 'BYTAP'].

Judicial Recantation, Mark A. Graber

Mark Graber

No abstract provided.

Democracy On Trial: Terrorism, Crime, And National Security Policy In A Post 9-11 World, David A. Schultz

David A Schultz

Post 9-11 concerns in the United States, among the European Union (EU) members, and other western democracies regarding international terrorism forced convergence of the traditionally distinct policy areas of domestic criminal justice and national security. This convergence has produced several policy and institutional conflicts that pit individual rights against homeland security, domestic law and institutions against international norms and tribunals, and criminal justice agencies against national security organizations. This Article examines regime responses to international terrorism, principally in the United States, in comparison to the European Union, seeking to describe the consequences of the merger of criminal justice norms with …

Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

Equality is the thread running through the fundamental liberties enshrined in our Constitution. ... Equality, expressed in Art 12 of the [Singapore] Constitution, is also a specific right enforceable by the court. The difficulty comes in applying this deceptively simple concept to real-life situations. ... In considering the validity of legislation, Singapore and Malaysian courts have generally favored rational review, a modest conception of equal protection, unlike their American counterparts which have adopted a more expansive reading in the form of strict and intermediate review. This article examines how these three levels of equal protection review operate, and argues that …

Treaty Law: A Primer For Human Rights Lawyers, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

This short article introduces the law of treaties to domestic lawyers handling civil liberties cases.