Executive Branch
Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis of the U.S. executive branch related to national security, rights, and the rule of law. Analysis and informational resources focus on the executive branch’s powers and their limits, and the actions of the president, administrative agencies, and federal officials.
4,801 Articles
The Substance of the Second Circuit on 215: Four Key Takeaways
[Cross-posted at ACSblog] Yesterday the Second Circuit declared the NSA’s bulk telephone metadata program unlawful. Specifically, it ruled that it was unauthorized by section…
The Second Circuit and the Politics of Surveillance Reform
I have very little to add to Marty’s analysis of Judge Lynch’s opinion for a unanimous Second Circuit panel holding that the NSA’s bulk telephone metadata program…
New Poll: American Support for Drone Strikes Plummets When Innocent US Civilians Killed [Updated]
A 2009 US Air Force photo shows an armed MQ-9 Reaper drone taxiing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. US policymakers need to know the answer to a simple question about American attitudes…
[UPDATED with details and analysis] BREAKING: Second Circuit rules that Section 215 does not authorize telephony bulk collection program
[UPDATED] The opinion is here. Judge Sack’s concurring opinion is here. Because the court rules on statutory grounds, it does not reach the Fourth Amendment questions.…
Contextualizing Proportionality Analysis? A Response to Schmitt and Merriam on Israel’s Targeting Practices
In a recent post on this blog, Michael Schmitt and John Merriam discussed Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL), based on their recent visit to Israel…
USA Freedom Act: An Updated Readers’ Guide on Section 215
For the last several weeks, Congress has been discuss reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, a provision that has been used to justify the collection of vast quantities…
Once again: “Which agency?” and “How secret?” are separate and independent questions
Karen DeYoung has a story in the Post this morning about an ongoing debate on the Hill concerning whether the CIA “should be in the drone business at all, or if such lethal…
US Needs to Stop Tiptoeing Around the “Killer Robots” Threat
When it comes to banning “killer robots,” the United States is going to take some convincing. That was one major take-away from April’s multilateral meeting on the matter…
Corn and Jenks and Me on
Military Jurisdiction and Article III
For Federal Courts nerds, those with nothing better to do, or both, I thought I’d post links to two pieces of interest arising out of my recently published article, Military…
Letters to the Editor on End-of-War Claims from Guantánamo Detainees
My post from last Thursday has provoked a pair of letters-to-the-editor from lawyers for current and former Guantánamo detainees. Below the fold, I reprint them in full, and…
The Perverse and Unintended Consequences of Serdar Mohammed v. Defence
An important case in the United Kingdom (Serdar Mohammed v. Defence) and a major statement by the UN Human Rights Committee (General Comment 35) come to the wrong legal conclusion:…
We Need a Full, Transparent Review of the US Targeted Killing Program
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…