“Everyone loves money. That is why they call it MONEY.” – David Mamet. The trillion-dollar coin is a proposal to avoid the debt ceiling through a loophole in a federal statute that authorizes the U.S. Mint to coin platinum in any denomination. Platinum is reserved for commemorative issues, and the obscure statutory provision was certainly […]
Author Archive | Eugene Kontorovich
War & Treaty Powers Applied to al-Shabab Fighters
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 9, 2013 10:29 am in Constitutional Law, Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Law, National Security, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Continuing the analysis of possible Art. I authority for applying the Material Support of Terrrorism statute to three Somali nationals fighting on behalf of al-Shabab in Somalia, with no identifiable link to the U.S. – other than being brought here for trial. War Powers The U.S. is not at war with Shabab. They are at […]
Foreign Commerce Authority for Universal Jurisdiction over Terrorists
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 9, 2013 8:00 am in Alien Tort Statute, Constitutional Law, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Criminal Law, International Law, National Security, Necessary and Proper, Terrorism, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
The government is prosecuting three foreigners for the participating in “combat operations” in a foreign civil war. The indictment apparently alleges no connection to America, or even foreign commerce (unlike a similar 2011 case that lacked an apparent connection to the U.S.) The defendants are Somalis who fought in Somalia. In a previous post, I […]
Material Support Statute: A Neutrality Act for Everyone
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 8, 2013 11:01 am in Constitutional Law, Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Law, National Security, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
In the next few days, I’ll discuss possible sources of Art. I authority for the the federal prosecution of three foreigners for fighting on the side of al-Shabab in Somalia, and brought forcibly to the U.S. for trial. Previously, I’ve argued that this prosecution cannot be sustained under the Offenses Clause. But first lets put […]
Whose Alleged Settlement is Bigger?
[Cross-posted on OpinioJuris] In response to my post, immediately below, about Turkey’s settlements, at OpinioJuris, Kevin Jon Heller argues that from the perspective of International Criminal Court liability for “indirectly… deporting or transferring” its nationals into occupied territory, Israel would be more vulnerable than Turkey. Although statistics are not easy to come by for Cyprus, […]
Turkey’s Settlements, the ICC, and European Vacation-makers
In a press conference recently, Mahmoud Abbas threatened to use Palestine’s G.A.-recognized “state” status to challenge Israel’s settlements in the International Criminal Court. He picked a most unlikely venue for the presser – Ankara, in a joint conference with the the Turkish president. The absurdity of this is that Turkey continues to occupy northern Cyprus, […]
The ICC and the Territory of Palestine
The General Assembly’s recognition of Palestine as a state (which I’ve discussed previously) is widely regard as having the central upshot of facilitating a case against Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court. Indeed, Prime Minister Abbas has already threatened such action in regard to Israeli settlements – which are said to constitute an unlawful […]
The Offenses Clause & Universal Jurisdiction Over Terrorists
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 2, 2013 2:53 pm in Alien Tort Statute, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Global Governance/World Government, International Law, National Security, Terrorism, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict
A few days before Christmas, the U.S. indicted three men at the Federal District courthouse in Brooklyn for plotting suicide bomb attacks. This is an extraordinary, almost unique case: none of the people or conduct has any connection to the U.S. The defendants are foreign nationals, captured by some African government ont their way to […]
Moore v. Madigan follows student note
I am pleased to observe the the Seventh Circuit’s 2nd Amendment case followed quite closely the position laid out in a note by my former student, the brilliant Owen McGovern. From The Responsible Gun Ownership Ordinance and Novel Textual Questions About the Second Amendment (2012), pg. 490-91, which I believe was the first academic treatment […]
The Seventh Circuit Keeps “Bear” in 2nd Amendment
Since Heller, I have maintained that Illinois’s ban on carrying guns violates the plain meaning of “bear” arms. The Second Amendment creates two distinct rights: “keeping” and “bearing,” one for the home, one for the street. Today the Seventh Circuit agreed, holding Illinois’ carry ban unconstitutional. Judge Posner held that “bearing” is a right that […]
From Occupation to Border Dispute
My op-ed in Tuesday’s Jerusalem Post. Here is part of it: [T]he [UN] resolution acknowledges that the Palestinians have established all the trappings of a state. Abbas’s application to the Security Council last year made clear that they already had an independent, functioning state. It has a central bank and security forces, its own (virulently […]
Palestine, Contiguity and the Absolute Truth
I previously wrote of the manifestly false claims made by world leaders, and parroted as fact by the New York Times, that Israel’s permitting Jewish civilians to live in the area of Maaleh Admumim closest to Jerusalem cuts a potential Palestinian state in half. Some commentators went to far as to suggest I apologize to […]
The Bestiality Brief
By Eugene Kontorovich on December 5, 2012 4:20 pm in Constitutional Law, Fourteenth Amendment, Gay Rights, Religion and the Law, Sexual Conduct Restrictions, Sexual Orientation, Uncategorized
[Updated with link to Prof. Hayes’s new paper.] The man-bites-dog story of Germany legalizing then banning bestiality raises the question of the constitutionality of such laws in the U.S. Most states criminalize zoophilia, and in many places the bans have been enacted quite recently. Moreover, the laws are from time to time enforced. The 14th […]
The Double Standard of Contiguity
European capitals are in a tizzy over Israel’s announcement that it would take preparatory zoning steps to allow Jewish building in a neighborhood of Maaleh Adumim, a large town right next to Jerusalem. The Palestinian breach of their Oslo commitments by seeking a UN vote, and Hamas’s rocket campaign against Israeli towns, have all been […]
Government Out of Bedrooms, but into Barnyards
By Eugene Kontorovich on December 2, 2012 6:52 pm in Constitutional Law, Fourteenth Amendment, Gay Rights, Libertarianism, Privacy, Sexual Conduct Restrictions, Sexual Orientation, Uncategorized
I should say at the outset that I approach this delicate subject sheepishly, but this development bears noting. In a rare example of a Western country taking steps to restrict previously recognized sexual liberties, Germany is seeking to ban bestiality. (Its supporters call it zoophilia – are opponents zoophobes?) This will presumably put out to […]