* ACLU v. Geithner (D.D.C. Aug. 3, 2010) (seeking OFAC license to litigate on behalf of Anwar al-Awlaki in relation to his inclusion on list of targets approved for lethal strike)
Lots of news coverage of this one. The complaint, running 12 pages, is posted here. As you will see, the complaint is entirely focused on the constitutionality of the statutory and regulatory framework pursuant to which ACLU and CCR must obtain a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control at Treasury in order to provide legal services to a person identified as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” That is to say, the suit at this point isn’t about the underlying question of the legality of targeting al-Awlaki, but rather about the constitutionality of subjecting legal services to the same restrictions as other forms of service and support under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act system. This is important and interesting, of course, but the real fireworks will come later when a suit on the merits actually gets filed (something that presumably will occur once OFAC actually issues the requested license on its own initiative or else in the event that the court obliges OFAC to do so).
By Robert M. Chesney
Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.
View all of Robert M. Chesney's posts.
