When Lawyers Advise Presidents in Wartime: Kosovo and the Law of Armed Conflict

The events of September 11 changed how we perceive national security as a society, a government, and as individuals. This is as true of national security specialists, who have been aware that America has been at war with terrorism sine at least the 1990s, as it is for those whose sense of geographic security was shattered in New York and Washington. There is talk of “new war” and “new rules,” and concern that we not apply twentieth-century lessons to a twenty-first-century war. Over time, September 11 and its aftermath will test our interpretation and application of domestic law. It may also test the traditional framework under international law for resorting to and applying force. But much will, and should, stay the same for lawyers. As a result, the objective of this paper is to give some personal insight into the application of the law of armed conflict to the 1999 Nato Kosovo air campaign from the perspective of a lawyer serving the president as commander in chief. National-level legal review is critical to military operations, not just in determining whether the commander in chief has domestic and international legal authority to resort to force, but also in shaping the manner in which the United States employs force. Lawyers also have an important role to play in sustaining “good-government” process, offering a degree of detachment and long-term perspective

The Master Mason: How Professor Baldus Built a Bridge from Learning to Law and the Legacy of Equal Justice He Leaves Behind

These are Chief Judge Baker’s remarks eulogizing the late Professor David Baldus. Chief Judge Baker observes that Professor Baldus was an extraordinary educator-lawyer who mastered the fields of social science and statistics. He adds that Professor Baldus was diligent in his research and strived to make the law accessible. Chief Judge Baker discusses how Professor Baldus’s research on the death penalty and proportionality review successfully bridged the law and learning, without ever losing sight of compassion

Ordered Liberty and the Homeland Security Mission

This paper will start with a brief discussion of the terrorism threat because the threat remains predicate for any serious discussion of where we draw our legal lines. I will then suggest a legal model for looking at questions of homeland security called ordered liberty. The model is simple. First, given the nature of the threat, the executive must have broad and flexible authority to detect and respond to terrorism-–to provide for our physical security. Second, the sine qua non for such authority is meaningful oversight. Oversight means the considered application of constitutional structure, executive process, legal substance, and relevant review to decision-making–-all of which depend on the integrity and judgment of government lawyers. Meaningful oversight protects our way of life. It also protects our security by helping decision-makers get it right on the front end of a decision, rather than investigating on the back end. This model does not detail whether civil service rules should apply to the Homeland Security Department, or whether military commissions are a good idea. The paper will suggest some principles and lessons learned that can be applied to such questions. In the process, two false dichotomies will hopefully be debunked: first, that security and liberty conflict; and, second that oversight and security conflict

What’s International Law Got to Do With It? Transnational Law and the Intelligence Mission

The United States faces an immediate and continuous threat of terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. The intelligence function and national security law, including international law--or more accurately transnational law--are central to addressing this threat. Indeed, international law is more relevant today in addressing this threat than it was before September 11. Part II of this article describes a continuum of contemporary threats to U.S. national security, with a focus on nonstate terrorism. Part III addresses the role of intelligence and national security law, and in particular law addressed to process, in combating these threats. Part IV addresses the relationship between the intelligence function and international law. Part V describes the responsibilities of the intelligence lawyer

Trichoplax, the simplest known animal, contains an estrogen-related receptor: Implications for the evolution of vertebrate and invertebrate estrogen receptors

Although, as their names imply, vertebrate and invertebrate estrogen receptors [ERs] and estrogen-related receptors [ERRs] are related transcription factors, their evolutionary relationships to each other are not fully understood. We searched recently sequenced genome of _Trichoplax_, the simplest known animal, and genomes from three lophotrochozoans: _Capitella_, a worm, _Helobdella robusta_, a leech, and _Lottia gigantea_, a snail, to elucidate the origins and evolution of ERs and ERRs. BLAST found an ERR in _Trichoplax_, but no ER. BLAST searches of the lophotrochozaons found ERRs in all three and invertebrate ERs in _Capitella_ and _Lottia_, but not in _Helobdella_. These database searches and a phylogenetic analyses indicate that invertebrate ERs arose in a protostome, and vertebrate ERs arose later in deuterostome

The National Security Presidency in Constitutional Context: Reflections on Terrorism and the Presidency from the Last Ten Years

In this time of terrorist threat, there is no more important institution to study than the national security presidency. That is because the president is singularly situated to command the instruments to counter terrorism. He is also singularly situated to ensure that such instruments are used effectively, lawfully, and in a manner consistent with constitutional values. I believe I have a duty, based on where I have been, to help others observe and understand the institution of the presidency. I do so because I want the national security presidency to succeed in providing for our physical security and in upholding our constitutional way of life; or, as the president’s constitutional oath states succinctly, “to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.” Those who teach, interpret and study the presidency have an important duty to play in this process by testing the institution to ensure that these functions are successfully performed

Individual Party Donors: True Allies or Free Agents?

Habitual party donors represent an important revenue source for American political parties. What remains unclear is whether the party committees can also count on these donors to support the congressional candidates who represent the parties’ best chances for seat maximization. Utilizing structural equation modeling and contribution data from the 2006 to the 2012 election cycles, I find habitual party donors and certain new party donors respond to changes in party control of the House by providing more support to incumbents when their party is in the majority and more support to nonincumbents when their party is in the minority. Moreover, party donors are more likely to give to congressional candidates, especially those competing in priority races, than nonparty donors. Party donors additionally are revealed to be an important funding source for congressional candidates