National Security Law Commons^™

Waging War Against Terror: An Essay For Sandy Levinson, Philip Chase Bobbitt

Faculty Scholarship

Wars are acts of State, and therefore there has never been a "war on terror." Of course states have fought terrorism, in many guises, for centuries. But a war on terror had to await the development of states – including virtual states like al Qaeda's global ummah – whose constitutional order was not confined to a particular territory or national group and for whom terror could therefore be a permanent state of international affairs, either sought in order to prevent persons within a state's control from resisting oppression by accessing global, empowering resources and networks, or suffered because other states …

Anti-Terrorist Finance In The United Kingdom And United States, Laura K. Donohue

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article adopts a two-tiered approach: it provides a detailed, historical account of anti-terrorist finance initiatives in the United Kingdom and United States—two states driving global norms in this area. It then proceeds to a critique of these laws. The analysis assumes—and accepts—the goals of the two states in adopting these provisions. It questions how well the measures achieve their aim. Specifically, it highlights how the transfer of money laundering tools undermines the effectiveness of the states' counterterrorist efforts—flooding the systems with suspicious activity reports, driving money out of the regulated sector, and using inappropriate metrics to gauge success. This …

Anglo-American Privacy And Surveillance, Laura K. Donohue

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The United States’ Terrorism Surveillance Program represents just one of many expansions in surveillance since 9/11, as legal controls previously introduced to protect citizens’ privacy and to prevent the misuse of surveillance powers have been relaxed. What makes the situation qualitatively different now is not just the lowering of the bar: digitization and the rapid advancement of technology mean that the type and volume of information currently available eclipse that of previous generations. The issue is not confined to the United States. Despite the incorporation of the European Convention of Human Rights into British law, the United Kingdom also appears …

Waging War Against Terror: An Essay For Sandy Levinson, Philip Bobbitt

Georgia Law Review

Wars are acts of State, and therefore there has never been a "war on terror." Of course states have fought terrorism, in many guises, for centuries. But a war on terror had to await the development of states-including virtual states like al Qaeda's global ummah 2-whose constitutional order was not confined to a particular territory or national group and for whom terror could therefore be a permanent state of international affairs, either sought in order to prevent persons within a state's control from resisting oppression by accessing global, empowering resources and networks, or suffered because other states wished to press …

The Procedural Due Process Requirements For No-Fly Lists, Soumya Panda

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Imagine arriving at the airport and checking in at the ticketing booth. You tell the ticketing agent your name, your flight number, and show the agent your identification. The agent enters the information into the terminal and a look of shock appears on his or her face. While other passengers are waiting behind you, the agent calls for security and mentions in front of other passengers that you are denied from boarding the plane. Now imagine that you are a famous United States senator arriving from a political convention and the ticketing agent tells you that you cannot board …

Legislative And Policy Responses To Terrorism, A Global Perspective, Amos N. Guiora

San Diego International Law Journal

While Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, would strike most Americans as the starting date for terrorism- at least as understood by a recently attacked America- the truth is very different both from the American and international perspective. The scope and intensity of the attack that Tuesday morning dramatically changed the American response to terrorism in the short-term and long-term. The change in America's response has impacted the American political debate, its way of life, and its legal and policy perspectives regarding terrorism and counter-terrorism alike. September 11 also had a global impact from an operational, intelligence-gathering, policy and legal perspective. …

Leaving No Loopholes For Terrorist Financing: The Implementation Of The Usa Patriot Act In The Real Estate Field, Elizabeth A. Cheney

Vanderbilt Law Review

September 11, 2001 began like any other day but took a drastic turn at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time when a plane, hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the northern tower of the World Trade Center, setting it afire. As Americans mourned in silence, a second plane rammed through the southern tower of the World Trade Center at 9:05 a.m. and set it aflame. The horror continued, as a third plane crashed into the Pentagon, a fourth diverted into a field in Pennsylvania, and both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.

It did not take long for Americans to realize …

Terrorism Risk In A Post-9/11 Economy: The Convergence Of Capital Markets, Insurance, And Government Action, Robert J. Rhee

UF Law Faculty Publications

September 11 changed the American economy and the global insurance market. The insurance industry no longer covers terrorism risk for "free." The traditional insurance mechanism alone cannot spread the risk of repeated catastrophic losses. Beyond the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 lingers the questions of a longterm solution and government's role therein. Government can assume different roles: reinsurer, wealth (re)distributor, regulator, or a combination thereof. This article suggests that the government should foster a regulatory and tax environment in which the private sector can develop a capital market solution for terrorism risk. Securitization is an alternative to reinsurance and …

Navigating Communications Regulation In The Wake Of 9/11, Jamie S. Gorelick, John H. Harwood Ii, Heather Zachary

Federal Communications Law Journal

In no industry has the impact of the events of September 11, 2001 ("9/11") been felt more strongly than in the communications industry. After 9/11, as the American people demanded a greater sense of security, Congress and the executive branch agencies reacted with new laws, new regulations, and new practices designed to protect our nation's critical communications infrastructure and enhance the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to investigate those who would do us harm. The U.S. communications providers could do so consistent with their responsibilities to customers and to shareholders. That partnership, based upon rules developed over decades, …

The Other Students: Teaching The "War On Terror" To Nonlawyers, Juliette N. Kayyem

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Law Teacher As Peacemaker: National Security In The Classroom, Stephen Dycus

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Civil Aircraft As Weapons Of Large-Scale Destruction: Countermeasures, Article 3bis Of The Chicago Convention, And The Newly Adopted German "Luftsicherheitsgesetz", Robin Geiß

Michigan Journal of International Law

It is thus the aim of this Article to map out the international legal framework relevant for designing countermeasures against nonstate actors who convert civil aircraft into weapons of destruction. As a first step, this Article sketches out the applicable rules relating to international civil aviation security and highlights the dichotomy between nonstate actor threats and interstate threats at the base of these rules. As will be seen below, nonstate actors abusing civil aircraft as weapons of destruction is a new challenge not only in terms of destructive quality but also in a legal sense, in that the question of …

Protecting Rights In The Age Of Terrorism: Challenges And Opportunities, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Depending on whom you speak to these days (and the mood in which you find them), international law is either practically moribund, or it's more vibrant and important than it has been for years. To take the good news story first, international law issues have been at the forefront of public discourse over the past few years. Pick your issue: the U.N. Charter and the international law on the use of force? The Convention Against Torture? The Geneva Conventions? You'll find it on the front page these days. Journalists are phoning international law professors for background briefings, and students are …

Beyond The "War" On Terrorism: Towards The New Intelligence Network, Ronald D. Lee, Paul M. Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

In Terrorism, Freedom, and Security, Philip B. Heymann undertakes a wide-ranging study of how the United States can - and in his view should - respond to the threat of international terrorism. A former Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") and current James Barr Ames Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Heymann draws on his governmental experience and jurisprudential background in developing a series of nuanced approaches to preventing terrorism. Heymann makes clear his own policy and legal preferences. First, as his choice of subtitle suggests, he firmly rejects the widely used metaphor …

Legislative Responses To Terrorism: A View From Britain, Geoffrey Bennett

Journal Articles

There is nothing new in the United Kingdom about either the threat of terrorism or a legal response to it. For almost one hundred and fifty years, the troubled spectre of Irish politics has haunted mainland Britain and produced a variety of reactions, some worth noting and others richly deserving oblivion. In surveying the legislation it is important to bear in mind that the events of September 11, 2001 did not immediately bring about any dramatic change in the legislation directed to anti-terrorism. Most of it was already there. Having said that, the events of 9/11 have certainly had an …

Afghanistan, Greg Sanders

Human Rights & Human Welfare

After September 11, Afghanistan became the first battleground of the War on Terror when the Taliban government refused to turn over Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda members. Human rights concerns about these events fall in two areas. First, did the United States violate human rights when it launched Operation Enduring Freedom to overthrow the Taliban and during the subsequent occupation? Second, have the occupation forces and new regime of under the leadership of Hamid Karzai done enough to improve the previously miserable human rights situation in Afghanistan?

Be Reasonable! Thoughts On The Effectiveness Of State Criticism In Enforcing International Law, Michael Y. Kieval

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note examines the effectiveness of diplomatic criticism in enforcing international law, particularly in the counter-terrorism (or anti-insurgency) context. It is not concerned with determining what international law does or does not "in fact" allow States to do in combating terrorism and other existential threats.

The Politics Of The Geneva Conventions: Avoiding Formalist Traps, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Geneva Conventions were drafted in 1949, in another world. The world of the Geneva Conventions' "framers" is still familiar to all of us, though increasingly it is familiar from movies and books rather from the evening news or, still less, our own lived experience. The world in which the Conventions were drafted was a world of states: powerful states, weak states, predatory states, law-abiding states, but states all the same. Soldiers wore uniforms designed by their states, carried weapons issued by their states, obeyed orders given by their commanders, and fought against the armies of other states.

Well--most of …

Patriotism, Nationalism, And The War On Terror: A Mild Plea In Avoidance, Winston P. Nagan, Craig Hammer

UF Law Faculty Publications

Professor Viet Dinh, a major drafter of and architectural influence upon the USA PATRIOT Act, provides an indirect scholarly justification for the far-reaching powers of the act in his article, Nationalism in the Age of Terror. Part II of this Commentary begins by exploring the ostensible underpinnings of Dinh's article by examining his understanding of nationalism. Part III explains why crony nationalism is not the best defense against global terrorism. Part IV then analyzes some significant United States foreign policy undertakings that have arguably negatively affected United States national security. Finally, in Part V we conclude by gleaning lessons from …

Indefinite Material Witness Detention Without Probable Cause: Thinking Outside The Fourth Amendment, Michael Greenberger

Faculty Scholarship

A constitutional issue recently addressed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in United States v. Awadallah, 349 F.3d 42 (2003), has not received the widespread attention of high-profile litigation concerning the Justice Department's other controversial counter-terrorism policies. It is equally important. The issue arises out of Attorney General Ashcroft's announcement shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 that the aggressive detention of material witnesses [was] vital to preventing, disrupting or delaying new attacks. Since that time, the Department of Justice has used the federal material witness statute (18 U.S.C. Section 3144) to …

Remarks Of Denyse Sabagh, Denyse Sabagh

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Chimera And The Cop: Local Enforcement Of Federal Immigration Law, Michael M. Hethmon

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The questions of if, when, and how local police can enforce federal immigration laws go to the heart of the legal hunt for the chimera that is contemporary American immigration law.1 In the opening years of this century, the estimated illegal alien population in the United States has reached historic levels. The national response to the attacks of September 11, 2001 transformed what had been largely a municipal conflict between ethnic organizations, the immigration bar, and local governments in high-immigration jurisdictions into a much larger national debate about national security, civil liberties, and federalism.z After the devastating attacks on the …

Military Detention And The Judiciary: Al Qaeda, The Kkk And Supra-State Law, Wayne Mccormack

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article touches on the choice of whether to use the language and tools of war or the language and tools of law enforcement in responding to terrorism. The principal focus, however, is on the limited issue of judicial review and military detentions. The Article reviews the case law created on this subject during the Civil War and World War II. Historical considerations are found by the author to be relevant and helpful in solving the incoherency of current legal responses to terrorism. For instance, indefinite military detention is not coherent with either the international law concept of violations of …

High Alert: The Government's War On The Financing Of Terrorism And Its Implication For Donors, Domestic Charitable Organizations, And Global Philanthropy, Nina J. Crimm

William & Mary Law Review

Within days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government extended its already existing commitment to combat terrorism. President Bush declared a financial war on terrorism, with the aim of depriving terrorists of their necessary financial support. He issued Executive Order 13,224, which ordered the blocking of assets of specially designated global terrorists.' Congress enacted legislation that not only fortified previously existing criminal and civil laws, but also added new ones for use in combating terrorists and terrorism. The Bush Administration dedicated resources to existing and newly created governmental structures that would be responsible for enforcing these laws and …

The United Nations Security Council's Quest For Effectiveness, Emilio J. Cárdenas

Michigan Journal of International Law

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on New York's World Trade Center Towers and Washington's Pentagon, instantly refocused the United Nations' attention on the issue of international terrorism. The Security Council (Council) responded immediately: first, on September 12, 2001, with an unequivocal condemnation of the attacks, contained in Resolution 1368 (2001), and second, on September 28, 2001, with the enactment of Resolution 1373 (2001), which, under Chapter VII of the Charter, mandated that all Member States take specific actions to combat international terrorism. Terrorism was rightly understood to be "a threat to international peace and security."

Race, Immigration, And The Department Of Homeland Security, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

Despite the wisdom of separating the service and enforcement functions of our immigration bureau, the new tripartite system under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security risks fueling the "immigrant Arab as terrorist" stereotype, rather than helping to re-establish the reality that noncitizen terrorists, like U.S. citizen ones, are a rare species.

Checks And Balances In Wartime: American British And Israeli Experiences, Stephen J. Schulhofer

Michigan Law Review

Three years after an attack that traumatized the nation and prompted massive military and law-enforcement counter-measures, we continue to wrestle with the central dilemma of the rule of law. Which is more to be feared - the danger of unchecked executive and military power, or the danger of terrorist attacks that only an unconstrained executive could prevent? Posed in varying configurations, the question has already generated extensive litigation since September 11, 2001, and a dozen major appellate rulings. Last Term's Supreme Court trilogy - Rasul v. Bush, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld v. Padilla - clarified several important points …

The Legal Case Against The Global War On Terror, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

In the first confusing days after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush declared a war on terror. Many of us heard this declaration as stirring rhetoric to rally the nation. We understood it as a declaration that the President would direct a strong response against those responsible. We had heard this sort of rhetoric before when the nation faced powerful challenges-from illegal drugs and chronic poverty. Many of us understood President Bush's declaration of war to refer once again to the determined, persistent struggle to overcome a social blight-this time terrorism. We did …

Unpatriotic Acts: An Introduction, Sadiq Reza

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Preface, Symposium: Criminal Defense In The Age Of Terrorism, Tanina Rostain, Donald Zeigler

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.