Anthony Clark Arend

My dear friend Steve Bainbrige has an exceptionally thoughtful and detailed post on legal and policy questions that have been raised about the prospects of Obama appointing  a US Ambassador to the Holy See. Bainbridge writes:
Now let’s disentangle two issues. First, is there anything constitutionally incongruous about the US having an ambassador to the Vatican? Second, as a matter …

Jack Goldsmith has a very thoughtful op ed in today’s Washington Post about the prospects of conducting investigations into the Bush Administration treatment of detainees. After reviewing some ideas for new investigations that have been suggested, Goldsmith argues:
These are all bad ideas. They would bring little benefit, and they would further weaken the Justice Department and the CIA in …

From the Polaris Project press release:
Polaris Project, a national organization combating human trafficking, has named Ambassador Mark P. Lagon, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) of the U.S. Department of State, as their incoming Executive Director. Founded in 2002, Polaris Project is one of the leading national organizations working to end human trafficking in …

The New York Times is reporting this morning:
The United States military has decided to release a former driver for Osama bin Laden whose trial became a test case for the Bush administration’s system of military commissions for accused terrorists, Yemeni officials said.
The driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and convicted and sentenced in August, will …

The New York Times reports:
The authorities may lawfully conduct searches and electronic surveillance against United States citizens in foreign countries without a warrant, a federal appeals court panel said on Monday, bolstering the government’s power to investigate terrorism by ruling that a key constitutional protection afforded to Americans does not apply overseas.
The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the …

From SCOTUSBlog:
In a 19-page ruling, District Judge John D. Bates denied review at this time on part of the claims by Omar Khadr seeking to challenge his military commission trial, and ruled that the court had no authority to consider another challenge.  (The judge’s opinion in Khadr v. Bush, 04-1136, is here; an order to implement it is here.)
Khadr was 15 …

In case you missed this, the AP reported yesterday:
Somali pirates have released a hijacked Greek-owned tanker with all 19 crew safe and the oil cargo intact after payment of a ransom, the ship’s management company said Saturday.It did not say how much was paid.
The Liberian-flagged tanker MV Genius, seized Sept. 26, was released Friday and is about 500 miles (800 …