Posted in National security, Law on Jun 12th, 2008
In a major decision on civil liberties and the “war on terror,” the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled this morning, 5-4, that foreign nationals held as terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay have the constitutional right to challenge their detention in civilian courts.
The New York Times has a feature article this morning on new empirical studies by economists, suggesting that the execution of criminals may have a deterrent effect after all.
This research, which purports to show that each execution prevents several violent deaths, is highly controversial, but it adds a new element to the legal and political debate […]
Posted in Race and slavery, Gender, Art, National security, International relations, Science, Law, Politics on Jul 5th, 2007
Welcome to my blog!
I’m planning to use this blog to offer occasional reflections on topics of interest to me, notably politics, law and foreign relations, but also including science and other topics. I make no promise to post frequently, or that this blog will be interesting to anyone.
From time to time, I will also offer […]
Posted in Race and slavery, Gender, Art, National security, International relations, Science, Law, Politics on Jul 5th, 2007
The blog entries prior to this date are a sampling of posts imported from my old LiveJournal account. I blogged these entries long before I started this site.
Unfortunately, the export from LiveJournal didn’t include any of the original comments.
Posted in National security, Law on Jun 29th, 2006
For those who might be wondering just what to make of the Supreme Court’s dramatic ruling this morning on the Guantanamo Bay military trials, here’s a very quick take:
The Court has basically ruled, by a 5-3 vote, that the military commissions, as constituted, violate the standards for trying prisoners set forth in the Uniform Code […]
Posted in National security, Law on Dec 4th, 2005
Ever wanted revenge on a teacher who gave you a bad grade? Ever wished the CIA would help you?
The Washington Post this morning has a story about extraordinary rendition, the process by which the CIA kidnaps selected terror suspects and secretly flies them to other countries for treatment which is prohibited by law.
The CIA inspector […]
Well, the odds of the Democrats taking the White House in 2008 may have just doubled, with the expected announcement later this morning that Bush is nominating Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
For those who don’t follow these issues, Judge Alito is quite conservative on the bench. Some of his cases do display a willingness […]
Okay, I’m going to break down and post a bit of rant here.
(Hey, it’s the trap you’re supposed to fall into when you sign up for LJ, right?)
Amnesty International issued a report this week on behalf of its campaign entitled “STOP CHILD EXECUTIONS!”
Why is this even an issue?
The runaway leader in executing those who commit […]
