Courts & Litigation

The National Security Law Podcast: A Deep Dive into the Steel Seizure Case

Robert Chesney, Steve Vladeck
Thursday, September 6, 2018, 11:05 AM

This week, we explore the iconic 1952 decision of the Supreme Court in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, better known as the “Steel Seizure Case.” It’s an all-time classic regarding the separation of powers in general and war-related powers in particular (not to mention constitutional interpretive method, theories of emergency power, and more). In this deep dive, we:

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This week, we explore the iconic 1952 decision of the Supreme Court in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, better known as the “Steel Seizure Case.” It’s an all-time classic regarding the separation of powers in general and war-related powers in particular (not to mention constitutional interpretive method, theories of emergency power, and more). In this deep dive, we:

  • place the ruling in factual and historical context;
  • trace the doctrinal threads across the many separate opinions (and, yes, we’ll use the phrase “tripartite framework” … talk about an old chestnut!);
  • explore what the Court did and did not actually settle, and what sort of shadow the case has cast over time;
  • identify the impact of key subsequent rulings (including Dames & Moore v. Regan and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld).

This episode was pre-recorded on Aug. 23. We’ll be back with regular programming after Labor Day!


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.

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