The National Security Law Podcast: I Hereby Demand, and Tomorrow Will Officially Order, That You Listen to This Podcast
Never a slow week in this business…
This week we’ve got breakdowns and debates over some familiar topics:
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Never a slow week in this business…
This week we’ve got breakdowns and debates over some familiar topics:
- Military commissions: The convoluted proceedings in the al-Nashiri prosecution became a bit less tangled this week, as the government backed off its attempt to preclude intervention by a pair of al-Nashiri’s erstwhile attorneys. Are we any closer to resolving the overall set of issues set off by claims of government monitoring of attorney-client communications though?
- Doe v. Mattis: We are now drawing close to a ruling on the merits of the government’s claim of authority (under the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs) to use military detention with respect to a U.S. citizen the government asserts is an Islamic State member. The issue has been fully briefed for some time, in fact, and now Judge Tanya Chutkan has scheduled a hearing. June 20 will be a big day.
- Al-Shimari v. Duggan/CACI: This Alien Tort Statute suit against a private military contractor for abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib has been around forever. The latest? A motion to dismiss based on the idea that the Supreme Court’s recent Jesner v. Arab Bank ruling (precluding ATS liability for suits against foreign corporations involving conduct overseas) should be extended to domestic corporations for actions overseas. Oral argument on June 15.
- Gitmo habeas cases: We also note the unfolding litigation schedules for some key Guantanamo cases (Yes, there still are some!), including Hamidullin’s bid for en banc review of his request for prisoner-of-war status. We also check in on the al-Alwi D.C. Circuit appeal and the various petitions grouped under al-Bihani.
- Trumplandia: We go deep on the Intelligence Identities Protection Act in relation to the exposure of the name of an FBI confidential informant who interacted with Trump Campaign members in 2016, and we also wrestle with the authority of a president to direct the Justice Department to open an investigation in a particular case.
Admit it, though: You’re tuning in this week for an extended debate over the criteria that define a “one-hit wonder,” and to see whether your favorite songs made their good and bad one-hit lists. The question you have to ask yourself is: What do you wanna do with your life?
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.
