The National Security Law Podcast: Can You DIG It?

Robert Chesney, Steve Vladeck
Tuesday, March 27, 2018, 5:05 PM

It has been another not-at-all slow week. On tap for today:

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

It has been another not-at-all slow week. On tap for today:

  1. The CLOUD Act: It’s now the law of the land. We will go into the law’s particulars next week, but for now we do want to address what passage means for the pending Supreme Court case involving the government’s attempt to force Microsoft to produce data stored in Ireland. Vacate-and-remand, dismiss as improvidently granted, or full steam ahead?
  2. Military Commissions: Never a dull moment with the commissions! Judge James Pohl has received dueling declarations from Secretary James Mattis and former Convening Authority Harvey Rishikoff and legal adviser Gary Brown regarding the firing of the latter two, and a hard question looms regarding whether an evidentiary hearing will follow. Meanwhile, the Court of Military Commission Review has sent questions to, well, everyone, including Judge Spath. Judge Vance Spath responded quickly, and we review all of it.
  3. The meaning of “terrorism”: In connection with the recent Austin bombings, the question of what counts as “terrorism” both as a legal and a policy matter has arisen once again. Should there be a new federal crime of terrorism? State laws to that effect? Is the status quo fine? How should journalists talk about violence that causes fear in the community when it is not entirely clear why the perpetrator is carrying out such acts?
  4. John Bolton and law: A quick note on the new national security adviser’s legal and policy orientation.

And then there’s the really important stuff: The pros and cons of … fantasy sports in general, and fantasy baseball in particular!


Robert (Bobby) Chesney is the Dean of the University of Texas School of Law, where he also holds the James A. Baker III Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs at UT. He is known internationally for his scholarship relating both to cybersecurity and national security. He is a co-founder of Lawfare, the nation’s leading online source for analysis of national security legal issues, and he co-hosts the popular show The National Security Law Podcast.
Steve Vladeck is a professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law. A 2004 graduate of Yale Law School, Steve clerked for Judge Marsha Berzon on the Ninth Circuit and Judge Rosemary Barkett on the Eleventh Circuit. In addition to serving as a senior editor of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, Steve is also the co-editor of Aspen Publishers’ leading National Security Law and Counterterrorism Law casebooks.

Subscribe to Lawfare