Courts & Litigation
Just Security’s expert authors offer analysis and informational resources on key litigation impacting national security, rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Our content spans domestic and international litigation, from cases at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and other international and regional tribunals, to those in U.S. courts involving executive branch actions, transnational litigation, and more.
2,859 Articles
ACLU Takes Phone-Records Challenge to Appeals Court
The ACLU has just filed its opening brief in the Second Circuit in its challenge to the NSA’s phone-records program. The brief—the first appellate brief to be filed in any…
Miranda: Blame Parliament Before Blaming the Courts
In August 2013, David Miranda, partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald, was transiting through Heathrow, on his way from Germany to Brazil when he was detained and searched under…
More Executive-Minded than the Executive
The English judiciary continues to show its habit of subservience to the government on security matters. In August 2013, David Miranda, who was carrying a hard disk with files…
Al Darbi Pleads Guilty but Questions Remain [UPDATED re AE168]
In news today from the military commissions in Guantanamo Bay, Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi pled guilty to charges brought against him—charges which arose from his role…
Information Cascades and Intelligence Oversight
Sen. Blumenthal opened a recent surveillance oversight hearing by hammering an important point from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board’s thorough report on the…
Why Does Microsoft Want a Global Convention on Government Access to Data?
Last month, Brad Smith, the General Counsel of Microsoft, called for an international convention on government access to consumer data (he was at Davos, so presumably he uploaded…
David Miranda detention and questioning was lawful, rules UK High Court
The UK High Court has dismissed a challenge brought by David Miranda, partner of Glenn Greenwald, that he was unlawfully detained and questioned for nine hours at Heathrow airport…
The al Iraqi Case and the Future of Military Commissions
This morning’s New York Times features a story by Charlie Savage about yesterday’s addition of a conspiracy charge to the pending military commission proceeding at…
The True Significance of Judge Tatel’s Opinion in the Force-Feeding Appeal
As Wells already flagged over at Lawfare, the D.C. Circuit decided Aamer v. Obama this morning — the effort by some of the Guantánamo detainees to challenge the force-feeding…
A Terrorist Watchlist Error Revealed
Last month, a federal district court for the very first time ordered the government to disclose an individual’s status on the terrorist watchlist. Jennifer Daskal described…
Two Developments re Section 215: (i) Changes to the Section 215 Program and (ii) Program’s Scope is Currently More Limited than Originally Thought
In his speech last month on the U.S. signals intelligence programs, President Obama “directed the Attorney General to work with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court…
Letter to the Editor: Schrödinger’s Metadata
Earlier this week, Charles A. Blanchard floated a provocative idea: “As strange as it may seem, quantum mechanics might help us illuminate the best approach to restrictions on…