September
Featured Story
Terrorist Financing: The Privatization of Economic Sanctions
The DNA of war was altered on Sept. 11, 2001. The new threat wore no uniform. It was nonsovereign, transnational, and borderless. It flew no flag and laid no claim to territory (unless one credits quixotic stories of a return to an ancient caliphate). It did not seek to build cities, but rather, burned with the viral thought of death to innocents as...
Features
The Crime of Terrorism: Military and Civilian Approaches to Prosecuting Terrorists
The question of whether terrorist activities constitute crimes punishable by civilian criminal statutes or acts of war subject to military action (and, consequently, military justice) has returned to the forefront of American law and politics in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The military commissions proffered by the Bush...
Torture of Torment: A Commentary
The public furor about the federal government’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) on enemy prisoners continues to rage. The questions abound: What was done? Who did it? Who authorized the use of these techniques? Should those who authorized the techniques and those who used them be criminally prosecuted? Recently, a new phase in the “debate” has...
Unconventional Warfare Needs a JAG of All Trades
As recent conflicts have demonstrated, the days of conventional warfare appear to be over. Internal conflicts occurring in weak and failing states around the world have become increasingly...
Court-Martialing Civilians Who Accompany the Armed Forces
For the first time since the Vietnam War, military jurisdiction extends to civilians who accompany American military forces overseas during periods short of a declared war. Under current law, civilians serving with or accompanying the armed forces during a contingency operation are subject to court-martial...
Pirates: Hostis Humanis Generis
The recent surge in piracy off the eastern coast of Africa has caused the United Nations and the members of the international seafaring community to focus on the oldest international crime and awakened debate on an acceptable response to the problem under international jurisprudence. The extended media coverage of recent incidents is partly attributable to the surprise that piracy did not fade into history along with the sailing ship.
To Heller and Back: Why Many Second Amendment Questions Remain Unanswered After United States v. Hayes
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The unique phrasing of the amendment has caused ...