Litigation
826 Articles
ACLU v. Clapper Will End the Telephone Dragnet
Last week’s dramatic Second Circuit decision in ACLU v. Clapper, invalidated the alleged legal basis for the NSA domestic phone call dragnet, Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act,…
What ACLU v. Clapper Means
Many others have already weighed in about the significance of last week’s ruling in ACLU v. Clapper. Here are my own quick thoughts. As regular readers of this blog already know,…
How the Second Circuit’s Decision in Clapper Informs the Section 215 Discussion
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…
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…
[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.…
Warfare and “Judicial Imperialism” in the UK
Last month, British think tank Policy Exchange published a report criticizing the rise of “judicial imperialism” in the context of British military operations, titled Clearing…
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:…
The Government (Sort of) Wins a Guantánamo Military Commission Appeal
No, not that one. In a two-page order issued this morning, the D.C. Circuit (Tatel, Griffith, & Silberman, JJ.) dismissed the appeal of former Guantánamo detainee Ibrahim…
Has the Government Conceded that Courts Can Review Detainees’ End-of-War Claims?
The first article I published after law school was a little piece in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, focusing on the then-hypothetical…
The al Bahlul Oral Argument Semianniversary
Today, April 22, marks the six-month anniversary of the oral argument before the D.C. Circuit in al Bahlul v. United States, by far the most significant constitutional challenge…
Wikimedia v. NSA: Standing and the Fight for Free Speech and Privacy
On March 10, 2015, represented by the ACLU, the Wikimedia Foundation and eight co-plaintiffs filed suit against the NSA, the Justice Department, and others, over the mass search…