Chris Jenks

Guest Author

Chris Jenks (@ChrisJenks_SMU) is a professor of law and directs the criminal justice clinic at the SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas.

Jenks served as Special Counsel to the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2017-2018) where he was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service

He teaches and writes on the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and criminal justice. Professor Jenks is the co-author of a LOAC textbook and co-editor of a forthcoming war crimes casebook. He has published articles on drones, child soldiers, extraordinary rendition, law of war based detention, and targeting.

Professor Jenks previously served in the United States Army for over twenty years, first as an Infantry officer serving in Germany, Kuwait and Bosnia and later as a Judge Advocate, serving in Korea and Iraq. He also worked in the Department of State’s office of the legal adviser human rights and refugees section and as a member of the US mission to United Nations, where he represented the United States during negotiations on cultural and humanitarian resolutions.  In his final assignment, he served as the Chief of the Army’s International Law Branch in the Pentagon.

Articles by this author:

A Solution in Search of a Problem: The Dangerous Invalidity of Divesting Military Commanders of Disposition Authority for Military Criminal Offenses

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Jun 29th, 2020

Who Should Decide: Prosecutorial Discretion and Military Justice

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Jun 29th, 2020

The President’s Inversion of the Government’s Ethical Conduct Standards, Right Before Americans’ Eyes

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May 26th, 2020

Sticking It To Yourself: Preemptive Pardons for Battlefield Crimes Undercut Military Justice and Military Effectiveness

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May 20th, 2019

The Tangled History of Confederate Generals at West Point and in the US Army: What’s in a Name?

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Aug 28th, 2017

CCW Review Conference: Autonomous Weapons Discussion to Continue But Regulation Remains Unlikely

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Dec 21st, 2016

What to Expect from Next Week’s Fifth CCW Review Conference Focusing on Lethal Autonomous Weapons

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Dec 9th, 2016

Letter to the Editor: Suggestions for Just Security’s Questions to the Presidential Candidates

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Sep 27th, 2016

The International Discussion Continues: 2016 CCW Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons

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Apr 20th, 2016

A Missed Opportunity: DOD’s Law of War Manual & Applying Law as a Matter of Policy

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Aug 7th, 2015

Targeting Transparency: A Call for DoD to Automatically Release Investigations of Civilian Casualties in Armed Conflict

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May 27th, 2014

A Rejoinder from Jenks and Corn re U.S. SIGINT Based Targeting

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Feb 18th, 2014

Eyes Wide Shut: Scahill and Greenwald’s Flawed Critique of U.S. SIGINT Based Targeting

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Feb 18th, 2014

Amnesty International’s Drone Strike Report: Once more into the lex lata/ferenda breach?

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Oct 22nd, 2013