In other habeas news, detainee Obaydullah has noted his appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
Obaydullah had filed a motion for relief from judgment. In it, he cited newly discovered evidence that—in his view—established his innocence. But, as Alan explained in … Read more »
Remember the Guantanamo detention case of Hentif v. Obama?
In 2011, the government convinced the district court to reject Fadhel Hussein Saleh Hentif’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In July of 2012, the district judge noted, on … Read more »
The Wall Street Journal reports on news coming from China’s Ministry of Defense that it and another military website have been hacked on average 144,000 times a month last year. Two-thirds of these attacks allegedly came from within the United … Read more »
Over at at the Emptywheel blog, Ms. Wheel colorfully asks of yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing: “Boy, what fucking idiots run DOJ (and, presumably, the Obama Administration generally)”? She goes on, marveling at the administration’s stupidity for refusing to … Read more »
While some other stuff was going on yesterday, my friend Lindsay Harrison at Jenner & Block and I filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and in support of certiorari in United States … Read more »
Over at Slate, Torie Bosch has an interview with a cyborg about, well, cyborg rights. It’s very interesting, and it goes to an issue I’ve been thinking about for a while. We think of cyborgs as inherently requiring … Read more »
Over at Forbes.com, Greg McNeal takes a break from guest blogging for Lawfare to body slam Human Rights Watch over its “killer robots” campaign. Last week, I published a grass roots letter from Human Rights, along with Tom Malinowski’s … Read more »
The thing kind of speaks for itself:
Rep. Louie Gohmert: Thank you Mr. Chairman, and this is an exceedingly important topic. We do appreciate your being here today. Obviously the Justice Department folks are busy doing something more important
Over at Rolling Stone, John Knefel pans the House Judiciary Committee hearing today for being too Lawfare-heavy:
The House Judiciary Committee held a full member hearing today on when it is acceptable for the government to designate a
As I’m sure you’re all aware, Chuck Hagel was confirmed by the Senate yesterday, 58 to 41, to be Secretary of Defense. He was sworn in today, and has to immediately turn to the $46 billion in spending cuts that … Read more »
Not all news today is the secret meeting of the Lawfare cabal in plain sight – at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on drones and targeted killing. There is, for example, the opinion just issued in the Sea Shepherd case … Read more »
In writing my testimony for today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on drones and targeted killing of U.S. citizens overseas, I found myself writing a more complete explication of the essential legal rationale underlying the administration’s position on the subject than … Read more »
Peter Margulies of Roger Williams School of Law writes in with the following comments on yesterday’s Clapper decision:
The Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday in Clapper v. Amnesty International reads at first like a substantial narrowing of standing doctrine. However, closer
As Wells reported, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA this morning. By a 5–4 vote, it held that a group of human rights organizations, lawyers, activists, and journalists lacked standing to challenge the … Read more »
This is a depiction of what a kill-list “baseball card” looks like:
Let’s begin with Senate news. Our favorite group of people has voted to end debate on Chuck Hagel’s nomination, reports Sara Murray at the Wall Street Journal. The majority vote for Secretary of Defense is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. … Read more »
The House Committee on the Judiciary has released the written statements of its four witnesses for tomorrow’s hearing on “Drones and the War on Terror: When Can the U.S. Targeted Alleged American Terrorists Overseas?”
Below are brief excerpts from each … Read more »
The following is a guest post from Ryan Goodman, continuing a conversation begun yesterday in this post from Geoff Corn, Laurie Blank, Chris Jenks, and Eric Jensen.
What the Critics of the “Lesser Evil” Rule (Still) Get Wrong: A Rejoinder … Read more »
The Supreme Court apparently concluded, in a 5-4 decision, that plaintiffs lack standing to challenge certain government surveillance programs.
Here’s some background on the case; we’ll post the opinion as soon as we get a copy.
UPDATE [11:25 a.m.]: … Read more »
Jack Goldsmith has flagged NYU professor Ryan Goodman’s European Journal of International Law article, “The Power to Kill or Capture Enemy Combatants,” as well as a Slate article by Goodman drawn from that academic journal piece, “The Lesser Evil: What … Read more »
Just what you need in life: Your very own cybernetic cockroach. Now, thanks to the folks at an outfit called “Backyard Brains” (“Neuroscience for Everyone!”), you can have one.
No, I am not making this up. It’s the Roboroach, … Read more »
Several years ago, in a prescient op-ed in the Washington Post, our colleague John Bellinger argued that the September 2001 AUMF was an increasingly poor fit for the evolving threats facing the United States. It is a theme to which … Read more »
The following is a guest-post from Geoff Corn, Laurie Blank, Christopher Jenks, and Eric Talbot Jensen, responding to Ryan Goodman’s recent Slate article (building on his new European Journal of International Law article, which Jack noted here) in … Read more »
In my previous post I discussed how law creates three broad categories of potential targets (AUMF targets, Covert Action targets, and Ally targets). Those broad categories mean that many individuals may be targetable based on their status as members of … Read more »
I have posted previously about a criminal investigation in Poland targeting the former head of Poland’s intelligence service, based on his alleged cooperation in establishing a CIA black site on Polish territory. It appears now that charges will be dropped… Read more »
Let’s begin with the flare-up that happened in Afghanistan over the weekend. President Hamid Karzai ordered U.S. Special Operations Forces to immediately halt operations in Wardak province—and leave in two weeks—after local residents complained that troops “have unlawfully detained, tortured … Read more »
Here are two new studies coming from the Congressional Research Service (h/t Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News) that may be of interest to Lawfare readers. They focus on access to government information and criminal prohibitions on leaking classified defense … Read more »
Thanks to Lawfare for hosting me again. I enjoyed my last visit, when I wrote about the U.S. military’s collateral damage estimation process, and I especially appreciated the helpful feedback (and in some cases, resources) I received from military and … Read more »
Gregory McNeal of Pepperdine University School of Law has been doing fascinating research on the actual processes U.S. forces use in targeting. Most recently, he’s been working on the actual processes by which the United States “nominates” targets for … Read more »
I’m not a big fan of the law review article as a form. But every now and then, one comes along that is genuinely important, that sheds new and interesting light on an important issue, that cuts through the unilluminating … Read more »
This very interesting Mandiant video shows how Advanced Persistent Threat 1 conducted hacks against targets.
With Abraham Lincoln back in the news, the Federal Judicial Center has posted a series of neat documents about the suspension of habeas corpus and the Ex Parte Merryman case. Here’s a brief history of the case. Here’s an … Read more »
According to the FAA, you can’t fly the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 in the D.C. Flight Restricted Zone. But just guess where this picture was taken.
According to a correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous but who recently passed through … Read more »
The old joke goes: “What’s denial?” Answer: “A river in Egypt.” Apparently it now flows through China too. Here’s a taste from Global Times:
The absurd allegation that a Chinese military unit is behind cyber attacks against the US government
I noted last week than in his answer to the question whether the Obama administration could “carry out drone strikes inside the United States,” John Brennan gave this non-response: “This Administration has not carried out drone strikes inside the United … Read more »
The House Judiciary Committee has released the witness list for its coming, February 27 hearing on ”Drones and the War On Terror: When Can the U.S. Target Alleged American Terrorists Overseas?” Careful Lawfare readers just might notice a … Read more »
A few weeks ago, Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch had a thoughtful and serious—if sometimes playful—exchange with Matt, Ken, and me over fully autonomous weapons systems. But there seems to be another, less serious, side of Human Rights Watch’s … Read more »
Two explosions in Hyderabad, India have killed sixteen people—including five students—and injured more than 100. The blasts were “long-planned” according to intelligence officials, and Indian Mujahideen is the group suspected to be responsible for the attack. The New York Times… Read more »
Yesterday, the AP released an English translation of what appears to be a 2011 Al Qaeda tip sheet. (AP journalists evidently found the document in Timbuktu.) Its author, AQAP senior commander Abdullah bin Mohammed, catalogs twenty-two handy methods by … Read more »
. . . . but only in 12-hour increments, according to The Chicago Tribune. Judge Pohl’s order (which is not yet available to the public) apparently rejected the defense’s bid for a 48-hour sleepover at Camp Seven. From … Read more »
Chicago lawyer Pejman Yousefzadeh writes in, at my request, with the following thoughts on teaching students to counter cyber threats using the ancient strategic game of Go. Pejman, who writes a very interesting blog, generously over-imagines my skill at … Read more »
Former Obama administration Acting and Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal has an interesting op-ed today in the NYT that criticizes the idea of an Article III “drone court” and proposes instead a “National Security Court” inside Article II in which … Read more »
I have often asked whether the Obama administration had a strategy to confront the apparently enormous problem of cyber exploitation by the Chinese against U.S. firms. Yesterday it published the Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets… Read more »
As Steve mentioned yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the legal rationale for targeted killing next Wednesday. We should have more details—including a witness list—shortly.
Lots of reaction to the Mandiant report on cyber attacks by … Read more »
Tuesday, Ben bemoaned the state of drone-themed humor in the New York Times, and followed it up yesterday morning with a tale of national security parody gone awry. Lawfare is not above the occasionally-off-color sense of humor in … Read more »
So we learn from this petition, filed with the Court of Military Commission Review (“CMCR”) last Thursday.
Here’s a taste, from the document’s “Preliminary Statement:”
This petition for a writ of mandamus seeks to enforce the public’s constitutional right
For those who can’t get in to the Supreme Court oral argument in Shelby County v. Holder, and who aren’t otherwise enticed by the Journal of National Security Law & Policy‘s inaugural symposium, “Swimming in the Ocean … Read more »
I want to highlight these upcoming events at Brookings of potential interest to our readers in the D.C. area:
Is there a Widening Sunni-Shia Schism?
February 22, 2013, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EST, Saul/Zilkha Rooms
An upswing in sectarian
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
In one of the strangest stories I’ve come across in a long time—and there have been many—news reports say an FBI agent shot and killed an Orlando man with ties to deceased Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Ibragim Todashev was not suspected of playing a role in the bombings, but, during questioning, confessed nevertheless to playing a role in a triple homicide in the Boston area. After his confession, Todashev allegedly… Read more »
