Recent Articles

Are We Down to One Branch of Government?
The Republican-led Congress has essentially abdicated its role. The Supreme Court — with its travel ban decision and especially now with Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement…

Trump v. Hawaii: Korematsu’s Ghost and National Security Masquerades
The travel ban represents only the most prominent Trump administration policy that, in Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s words, “now masquerades behind a façade of national-security…

China and the Rule of Law: A Cautionary Tale for the International Community
The Communist Party of China has been leading an extraordinary effort to transform the country into a fazhi (法制) nation or “a country under the rule of law.” The phrase…

Win the Battle, Lose the War: How the U.S. Can Sustain Counterterrorism Gains
After enduring years of terrorist brutality, citizens of places like Mosul, Mogadishu and Maiduguri can finally enjoy a semblance of normal life, after recent successes in countering…

Carpenter Ruling Brings Us Back From Brink of Orwellian Surveillance State
Orwell described a world where limitless surveillance makes us question every action, every thought. Last Friday’s decision in Carpenter v. United States brought us one step…

The Early Edition: June 28, 2018
Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad.…

In Trump Era, a Need to Revive Ideals of Jefferson’s Pursuit of Happiness
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life,…

The Radical Supreme Court Travel Ban Opinion–But why it might not apply to other immigrants’ rights cases
The Supreme Court adopted a new and radical framework allowing the Justices to sidestep the anti-Muslim animus that motivated the travel ban. But, even by its own logic, the new-fangled…

Trump v Hawaii: Giving Pretext a Pass
There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Trump v. Hawaii, which upheld the president’s proclamation banning travel to the U.S.…

The Broad Reach of Carpenter v. United States
By focusing on the nature of the information rather than on the telecommunications nitty-gritty used to gather the information or the structure of the database in which the information…

The Early Edition: June 27, 2018
Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad.…

Carpenter‘s Curiosities (and its Potential to Unsettle Longstanding Fourth Amendment Doctrines)
It’s only peripherally related to national security issues, but I thought some readers who are too overwhelmed or depressed to keep reading about Hawaii v. Trump might be…