By Mat Trachok, HLS 2012 Staff Writer There has been considerable debate over the Obama Administration’s decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) in a Manhattan federal court. NSJ provides a brief overview of the recent opinion pieces on the topic.
By NSJ Staff Writer Tomorrow, November 18, Attorney General Eric Holder will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee, likely facing questions regarding and criticism of his decision to abandon military tribunals for five 9/11 terrorists in favor of using the civilian criminal justice system. A debate reemerged after Holder’s announcement last Friday that five detainees currently housed at Guantanamo, including alleged 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), will be brought to New York to face charges in civilian court for conspiring to commit the 9/11 attacks. Pending the required 45-day waiting period required by Congress, KSM and the other four
By NSJ Staff Writer The House Judiciary Committee recently voted to reauthorize certain expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act as part of the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009. The bill, H.R. 3845, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, proposes privacy protections that in many respects go beyond those included in the bill that recently passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House Judiciary bill would make several significant changes to the three expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act, as well as to the use of National Security Letters (NSLs). The most important changes involve these provisions: Section 215: This section
By John Thorlin, HLS 2012 NSJ Staff Writer On October 29, 2009, Harvard Law School Prof. Alan Dershowitz appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to appeal the conviction of Johan Tarculovski. Tarculovski was charged with individual criminal responsibility (Art. 7 §1 ICTY Statute), as well as superior hierarchical responsibility (Art. 7 § 3 ICTY Statute), on three counts of violations of the laws and customs of war: murder, wanton destruction, and inhumane treatment. The circumstances that gave rise to those charges took place during Tarculovski’s time as part of Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski’s security detail.
By Mat Trachok, HLS 2012 NSJ Staff Writer According to surgeon and best-selling author Robin Cook, the world is at risk from an imminent, serious pandemic. Cook has written a new medical thriller entitled Plague, which he hopes will raise consciousness about this potential threat. In his recent article “Plague: A New Thriller of the Coming Pandemic,” Cook explains the science behind the novel. According to Cook, the world is currently under threat from two relatively benign strains of the influenza A virus: H1N1 (known commonly as swine flu) and H5N1 (the strain of avian flu that appeared in 2006
By Mat Trachok, HLS 2012 NSJ Staff Writer According to surgeon and best-selling author Robin Cook, the world is at risk from an imminent, serious pandemic. Cook has written a new medical thriller entitled Plague, which he hopes will raise consciousness about this potential threat. In his recent article “Plague: A New Thriller of the Coming Pandemic,” Cook explains the science behind the novel. According to Cook, the world is currently under threat from two relatively benign strains of the influenza A virus: H1N1 (known commonly as swine flu) and H5N1 (the strain of avian flu that appeared in 2006
