Is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) so distinct from the original al Qaeda network (“core al Qaeda”) that the use of force against AQAP cannot be justified, as a matter of U.S. domestic law, under the 9/18/01 AUMF?  … Read more »

Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris responds to Peter Berkowitz’s critique of Bruce Ackerman’s argument that a self-defensive attack on Iran would be unlawful.  Heller maintains that Berkowitz’s response is “unconvincing.”  I will try to weigh in to this debate … Read more »

I recently noted Peter Berkowitz’s short piece on the legality of a military action against Iran.  Bruce Ackerman subsequently argued that such a strike “would be a violation of both international law and the U.S. Constitution.”  Berkowitz has now responded… Read more »

As Bobby notes, Charlie Savage reports that the Obama administration disregarded a congressional statute that banned (through a spending condition) certain activities of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) involving certain Chinese officials and organizations.  The Office … Read more »

Bruce Ackerman has an interesting piece at Foreign Policy this week, arguing that the “congressional resolutions authorizing combat in Afghanistan and Iraq no longer justify military operations in either country—or anywhere else.”  Bruce concludes that President Obama is thus “moving … Read more »

A couple of weeks ago, as Ben noted, Trevor Morrison posted an article addressing the Libya-hostilities-OLC debate.  An expanded and updated version of that paper is now available here at Harvard Law Review Forum, and it is well worth … Read more »

Columbia law professor Trevor Morrison has a new essay, posted at SSRN, entitled “Libya, ‘Hostilities,’ the Office of Legal Counsel, and the Process of Executive Branch Legal Interpretation.” Among other things, the paper continues Morrison’s ongoing exchange with Bruce … Read more »

President Obama is in a legal and political pickle concerning his unilateral intervention in Libya.  The mission is much harder than he anticipated, and it has taken much longer (months, not days) than he thought it would.  Congress is growing … Read more »

Charlie Savage has the amazing story that President Obama “rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war … Read more »

Bruce Ackerman has responded on Balkinization to Trevor Morrison’s review of Ackerman’s book The Decline and Fall of the American Republic.  Ackerman’s opening paragraphs explain his post and have all the relevant links:

In a recently published book review

… Read more »

In yesterday’s Washington Post, Professors Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway editorialized about the “Death of the War Powers Act.”

Their piece is provocative, in part because it suggests that the executive has blessed the War Powers Resolution’s (“WPR”) 60-day time … Read more »

Columbia Law Professor Trevor Morrison has this lengthy review essay in the Harvard Law Review of Bruce Ackerman’s new book, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic. The essay, entitled “Constitutional Alarmism,” is rather devastating in my opinion. … Read more »

OLC’s Libya memorandum (see here for Jack’s assessment, and here for a point-by-point overview) concludes as a matter of constitutional law that President Obama did not need approval from Congress in order to use force in Libya as we have … Read more »

Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway argue at the Huffington Post that President Obama lacks the constitutional authority to impose a no-fly zone in Libya in the absence of congressional authorization.  Their main argument is that “[i]f Obama goes it alone, … Read more »

In Limited War and the Constitution: Iraq and the Crisis of Presidential Legality (forthcoming Michigan Law Review), Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway argue that the October 2002 AUMF for Iraq was subject to certain purpose-oriented conditions, that these conditions ceased … Read more »