War Powers
Captain Smith’s Challenge to the President’s War Against ISIS: The Next Step
Bruce Ackerman Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 5:18 PM
Captain Smith’s brief opposing the Government’s Motion to Dismiss.
Latest in War Powers
War Powers
Obama's Legal Legacy of Light Footprint Warfare
Jack Goldsmith, Matthew Waxman Tue, Jul 26, 2016, 1:16 PM
President's Obama's light-footprint warfare has established precedents that will leave a remarkable legal legacy of presidential power to use military force that poses a distinctive challenge to U.S. democracy and military strategy going forward.
War Powers
A Response to the Government's Brief in Capt. Smith v. Obama
Bruce Ackerman Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 4:48 PM
The government has just filed its brief responding to Captain Smith’s challenge to the president’s unilateral war against ISIS.
International Law
The Obama Administration’s Views on the Legality of Intervention in Syria Without Congressional or U.N. Security Council Support
Jack Goldsmith Tue, Jun 21, 2016, 5:01 PM
The Obama administration's lawyers concluded that intervention in Syria aganist Assad would be lawful under domestic and international law. But whether they were right may matter less than that Clinton is leading the presidential polls and that her former State Department lawyer has robust views about the president’s power of unilateral humanitarian intervention.
International Law
The Obama Legal Team and the Lawfulness of Attacking Assad
Charlie Savage Tue, Jun 21, 2016, 2:31 PM
Prompted by the “dissent memo” signed by 51 career State Department diplomats, several prominent law professors are debating the Obama administration's internal deliberations about the legality of intervention in Syria against Assad. But I don’t think the debate has perfectly reflected what my reporting showed.
2001 AUMF
Mullah Mansour as a "Continuous" Threat: Was the AUMF Strictly Necessary?
Robert Chesney Mon, May 23, 2016, 11:45 AM
The DOD airstrike that may have killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour is interesting, from a legal perspective, at many levels. From an international law perspective, as Marty Lederman explains here, it looks to be another example of action under color of the much-discussed unwilling/unable principle (unless of course there was conse
War Powers
The ISIS Lawsuit and the Perverse Effects of National Security Litigation
Rebecca Ingber Fri, May 13, 2016, 2:12 PM
These kinds of advocacy lawsuits against the President in the national security arena often have perverse effects on the resulting law. The intent is generally to force constraints onto the executive branch, but the further along this lawsuit gets, the greater the risk it will result in less, rather than more, accountability and constraint on the Executive’s power.
War Powers
The War Against ISIS is Unconstitutional
Bruce Ackerman Thu, May 5, 2016, 2:10 PM
An outline of the key points in the complaint submitted by Captain Nathan Smith challenging the legality of President Obama's war against the Islamic State.
War Powers
Analysis of Lawsuit Challenging War Against ISIL
Jack Goldsmith Wed, May 4, 2016, 1:03 PM
A judicial decision on the merits will likely deaden, not enliven, separation of powers between the President and Congress.
War Powers
Do the Strikes on al Shabaab Stretch the AUMF or The Unit Self-defense Doctrine?
Erica Gaston Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 10:00 AM
Charlie Savage’s piece on the legal basis for the March 5 U.S. strike against an al Shabaab training camp, which allegedly killed 150 fighters, raises the intriguing question of whether the AUMF has been stretched yet again, this time to justify U.S. operations against al Shabaab as a whole.