Federal Courts
183 Articles

Al Bahlul’s Commission Conviction and the Pragmatic Jurisprudence of Article III
Editor’s Note: This is the most recent post in a mini-symposium leading up to next week’s en banc oral argument in the DC Circuit in Al Bahlul v. United States. You can…

A Quick Update: Apple, Privacy, and the All Writs Act of 1789
Here’s the latest in the encryption case we’ve been writing about in which the Justice Department is asking Magistrate Judge James Orenstein to order Apple to unlock a criminal…

Orin Kerr’s Unconvincing Defense of Yesterday’s Second Circuit (Non-)Ruling
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, my friend Orin Kerr has a thoughtful post up about yesterday’s Second Circuit decision in ACLU v. Clapper, which refused to enjoin the…

Section 215 and “Fruitless” (?!?) Constitutional Adjudication
This morning, the Second Circuit issued a follow-on ruling to its May decision in ACLU v. Clapper (which had held that the NSA’s bulk telephone records program was unlawful…

The All Writs Act, Software Licenses, and Why Judges Should Ask More Questions
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…

Update on Apple’s Compelled-Decryption Case
Last week, we wrote about an order from a federal magistrate judge in New York that questioned the government’s ability, under an ancient federal law called the All Writs Act,…

Korematsu’s Demise?
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…

What the Third Circuit Said in Hassan v. City of New York
In Hassan v. City of New York, the Third Circuit yesterday emphatically overturned a New Jersey district court, which had dismissed a challenge to the New York City Police Department’s…

Lifting the Gag Order on One NSL is Good, But It’s Just a Start
Earlier this week, the public got a look at that rare occurrence in a national security case: a court lifting a gag on the recipient of a surveillance request. On August 28, Judge…

Will Filartiga Survive?
On September 16, the Fourth Circuit will hear oral argument in Warfaa v. Ali, a case brought by the Center for Justice and Accountability under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and…

The Microsoft Warrant Case: Response #2 to Orin Kerr
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr responds, point by point, to my disagreement with his take on the Microsoft warrant case. I thank Kerr for continuing the conversation,…

The Microsoft Warrant Case: A Response to Orin Kerr
With less than a week before the Second Circuit considers the dispute between Microsoft and the government over emails stored in Ireland (an issue I have blogged about here, here,…