Patriots Debate

ABA Journal takes home hardware in journalism contest

The ABA Journal congratulates its staff and contributors for several awards in the national and regional business-to-business journalism contest sponsored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Winning a national award for best blog was the ABA Journal’s business of law blog, The New Normal, authored by Paul Lippe,…

Jul 30, 2013 2:27 PM CDT

As DC Circuit Weighs the Future of Guantanamo Inmates, Some Say Judicial Review Can Harm Military

Federal appeals Judge A. Raymond Randolph is an admirer of the 18th century English critic Samuel Johnson. But it was Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, whom Randolph found himself quoting during a 2010 lecture at the Heritage Foundation. “They were careless people. … They…

Oct 1, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

Detention Policies: What Role for Judicial Review?

Editor’s note: Professor Stephen I. Vladeck of the Washington College of Law at American University and Greg Jacob, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C., examine the intricacies of U.S. detention policy. Their essays are among those collected in Patriots Debate: Contemporary Issues in National Security Law, a…

Oct 1, 2012 9:59 AM CDT

Letters of the Law: National Security Letters Help the FBI Stamp Out Terrorism But Some Disapprove

When Nicholas Merrill answered the door at Calyx, his Manhattan Internet company in February 2004, he encountered an FBI agent, who pulled a letter from his coat. It instructed Merrill to surrender at least 16 categories of “electronic communication transactional records”—detailed private records including billing notices, email addresses and account…

Sep 1, 2012 10:20 AM CDT

National Security Letters: Building Blocks for Investigations or Intrusive Tools?

Editor’s note: ACLU lawyers Michael German and Michelle Richardson and former FBI lawyers Valerie Caproni and Steven Siegel consider the pros and cons of national security letters. Their essays can be found in Patriots Debate: Contemporary Issues in National Security Law, a book published by the ABA Standing Committee on…

Sep 1, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

Crashing the Third Party: Experts Weigh How Far the Government Can Go in Reading Your Email

Late-night viewers of TV ads knew all about Smilin’ Bob. Dressed in his everyday business outfit of a crease-proof shirt and drab tie, Smilin’ Bob would prance about the office, entertaining foreign executives or posing as Santa during the company’s holiday party. And while a cheesy tune played through the…

Aug 1, 2012 9:29 AM CDT

The Data Question: Should the Third-Party Records Doctrine Be Revisited?

George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr and Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, ponder how far the government can go in reading your email. Their essays can be found in Patriots Debate: Contemporary Issues in National Security Law, a book published by the ABA…

Aug 1, 2012 9:20 AM CDT

Insider Threats: Experts Try to Balance the Constitution with Law Enforcement to Find Terrorists

A few minutes into a lecture on Islamic extremism, counterterrorism instructor William Gawthrop lifts a sheet of paper and asks the class to imagine iron filings on top and a powerful magnet underneath. “As you move the magnet … you see the iron filings move back and forth,” Gawthrop told…

Jul 1, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

The Threat from Within: What Is the Scope of Homegrown Terrorism?

Gordon Lederman, chief counsel for national security and investigations of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Kate Martin, director of the nonprofit Center for National Security Studies, ponder how we should weigh security against liberty. Their essays are part of a forthcoming book, Patriots Debate: Contemporary…

Jul 1, 2012 10:00 AM CDT

Cyberattacks: Computer Warfare Looms as Next Big Conflict in International Law

Near the Iranian village of Natanz, lying by the nation’s Karkas mountain range, a compound of tan-colored, block-shaped buildings sprawls with in a 25-acre enclosure. In a complex 25 feet underground, encased by walls 8 feet thick, 5,000 centrifuges churn out enriched uranium as they spin at almost 100,000 revolutions…

May 1, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

What Is the Role of Lawyers in Cyberwarfare?

Washington, D.C., attorney Stewart A. Baker and Charles J. Dunlap Jr., a former deputy judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force, debate whether the U.S. should learn the practicalities of winning a cyberwar—and then ask lawyers for their input—or, instead, set the legal ground rules before conducting cyberwarfare in…

May 1, 2012 10:00 AM CDT

Uneasy Targets: How Justifying the Killing of Terrorists Has Become a Major Policy Debate

With his American birth, loyalty to Yemen and dedication to radical Islam, Anwar al-Awlaki’s life was a raft of conflicts. So, too, was his death. Two Hellfire missiles shot from U.S. Predator drones struck the 40-year-old and his entourage last September as they traveled through the Arabian nation’s northern region.…

Apr 1, 2012 10:49 AM CDT

ACLU Sues DOJ to See ‘Targeted Killing’ Legal Justification Memos

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued to compel the Justice Department release of memos disclosing the legal justification for strikes that have killed U.S. citizens abroad. A lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday follows the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-Yemeni citizen and suspected al-Qaida militant who was…

Feb 3, 2012 5:48 PM CST

Patriots Debate: The Meaning of the Constitution in a Time of Terror

Since the events of 2001, the intersection of law and terrorism has become one of the most volatile zones in the public square—a place where qualities of life and manners of death are deliberated against 225 years of the U.S. Constitution.

Feb 1, 2012 11:39 AM CST

Constitutional Dilemma: The Power to Declare War Is Deeply Rooted in American History

Commanding the American warship the USS Constitution in the waning days of the 18th century, Capt. Silas Talbot steered the massive 44-gun frigate into the path of a little vessel called the Amelia. Talbot knew what he was after. An experienced naval officer since the American Revolution whose prowess prompted…

Feb 1, 2012 11:35 AM CST