courts
745 Articles
Due Process and Detention at Guantanamo: Closing the Constitutional Loopholes
The D.C. Circuit recently heard argument in Al Bahlul v. United States, where the defendant has made a series of constitutional challenges to the Guantanamo military commissions. …
Belhaj v. Straw: UK Court of Appeal allows torture claims to proceed
The UK Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment (full text) in the case brought by Abdul-Hakim Belhaj and his wife against the UK’s alleged role in their abduction, rendition…
Military Commissions After Guantánamo
This Wednesday morning at 9:30 (EDT), a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit (Henderson, Rogers, & Tatel, JJ.) will hear oral argument in al Bahlul v. United States–a Guantánamo…
Supreme Court of Canada Rules Individuals cannot sue a Foreign State in Canada for Torture Committed Abroad
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) affirmed that individuals cannot bring civil actions in Canada against a foreign state, which includes foreign officials, for acts…
Shhh! Last Week Was All About Secrets
Editors’ Note: The following post is the sixth installment of a new feature, “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor will take an in-depth look…
Twitter’s First Amendment Suit & the Warrant-Canary Question
This week, Twitter lobbed the latest volley in what has been both a fascinating and encouraging repositioning of technology companies vis-à-vis the U.S. government—a pivot that…
Twitter is Suing the US Government in an Effort to Reveal Surveillance Information
Twitter filed a case in the Northern District of California (docket number 14-cv-04480) on Oct. 7 seeking a court order that would allow the company to reveal more precise information…
Breaking news from the Supreme Court!
No, not that news (although it is rather shocking). The Court also denied certiorari this morning in two other cases that had received some attention in national security circles:…
The jurisdictional issue delaying the al-Nashiri military commission: Saudi defendant + French ship + Malaysian shipper + Iranian oil + Bulgarian casualty = trial in a U.S. military commission?
A couple of weeks ago, the Chief Prosecutor in the Office of Military Commissions filed an appeal to the Court of Military Commission Review from an order by the trial judge dismissing…
Abu Ghaith Sentence Confirms We Don’t Need Guantanamo
On Tuesday morning, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, was sentenced to life in a U.S. federal prison. The former al Qaeda spokesman was arrested in Jordan by…
Rosenberg vs. Pasha: Distinguishing Two Questions of Foreign Official Immunity
Last week, I responded to my friend John Bellinger’s comments about the district court’s ruling on foreign official immunity in the Singh case. John has a new post at Lawfare…
FISC OKs Section 215 Investigations of Americans, Despite First Amendment
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court declassified an opinion today which, although highly redacted, illuminates the way at least one Judge is interpreting his mandate to…