Before Privacy, Power: The Structural Constitution & the Challenge of Mass Surveillance

The rich legal literature that has grown up to assess the constitutionality of bulk communications collection by the government has focused overwhelmingly—and understandably—on the challenge such programs pose to particular claims of individual right against the state, yet attempting to describe what seems troubling about bulk collection in terms of individual rights alone has significant… Continue reading Before Privacy, Power: The Structural Constitution & the Challenge of Mass Surveillance

The Covert Action Statute: The CIA’s Blank Check?

MAJ Peter Combe argues that the covert action statute prohibits the Central Intelligence Agency from violating self-executing treaties to which the United States is party, as well as non-self-executing treaties and customary international law implemented by statute, but it provides domestic legal authority to violate non-self-executing treaties and customary international law that have not been… Continue reading The Covert Action Statute: The CIA’s Blank Check?

Sentencing Considerations & Their Implications on Foreign Policy

At JNSLP’s Feb. 11, 2015 symposium on “Trials and Terrorism: The Implications of Trying National Security Cases in Article III Courts,” an expert panel was convened to discuss trends in sentencing considerations in Article III terrorism prosecutions, and what the implications for these cases portend for american foreign policy. The panel consisted of a judge, a… Continue reading Sentencing Considerations & Their Implications on Foreign Policy