Anthony Clark Arend

In case you missed this . . .yesterday, a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals reversed District Judge John Bates’s ruling on the right of detainees held at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The opinion of the court in Fadi Maqaleh v. Robert Gates can be found …

The AP reports:
The Supreme Court has ruled that teenagers may not be locked up for life without chance of parole if they haven’t killed anyone.
By a 5-4 vote Monday, the court says the Constitution requires that young people serving life sentences must at least be considered for release.
The court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was implicated in …

In case you missed this, in a brief submitted to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, May 13, the Obama Administration made an important statement about the applicability of the laws of war to the on-going “war on terror.” In Al-Bihani v. Obama, the D.C. Circuit upheld the decision of the District Court denying Al-Bihani’s petition for a …

My dear friend UCLA Law Professor Steve Bainbridge and Professor Paul Campos of the University of Colorado Law School discuss the nomination of Elena Kagan on NPR. I think Steve clearly has the better of this discussion.

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2010

Remarks by the President and Solicitor General Elena Kagan at the Nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court
East Room
10:02 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, hello, hello!  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Everybody, please have a seat.
Good morning, everybody.  Of the many responsibilities accorded to a President …

The Washington Post is reporting tonight:
President Obama plans to nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be the 112th justice of the Supreme Court, a source said late Sunday night.
Kagan, 50, the former dean of Harvard Law School, would become the fourth woman to serve on the high court; if confirmed, it would mean that three women would serve on the …

My dear friend (for almost forty-years!), UCLA Law Professor Stephen Bainbridge has recently taken on many the unfortunate claims that the so-called Times Square Bomber, Faisal Shahzad, should not be given his Constitutional rights.  Here is his most recent post, which I re-post in its entirety, lest it lose its full effect:

Why not just torture the SOB?
The WSJ editorial board …

In case you missed it, Michael A. Sheehan had an excellent op-ed in the New York Times earlier this week on the challenge of “home grown” and “lone wolf” terrorism. Ambassador Sheehan served as the US Coordinator for Counterterrorism during the Clinton Administration and was Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism with the New York City Police– and, I might add, a …