National Security Law

Also see: For cases and information on detentions - Habeas Corpus; For cases and information on intelligence gathering - FISA- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - FISA / Border Security and Immigration

A special thanks to Steven Aftergood at the Project on Government Secrecy, who is reponsible for making many of these documents publically available.

Historical Documents

Nuremburg Trials - Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal

Laws

Good guide to FISA

War Powers Resolution of 1973

Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq - 2002

DOJ Legal Opinions

Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States - 2003 memo (the torture memo)

Review of the DOJ opinion opposing Congressional revision of the state secrets act - April, 2008.

Handbooks

Civil Support by the Military - This publication provides overarching guidelines and principles to assist commanders and
their staffs in planning and conducting joint civil support operations. Department of Defense Joint Publication 3-28, 14 September 2007.

"Operational Law Handbook," The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, July 2007 (667 pages, 6 MB PDF file)

"Legal Support to Military Operations," Joint Publication JP 1-04, March 1, 2007 - "Military lawyers were true combat multipliers in Iraq," said General David H. Petraeus, who is now U.S. commander in Iraq. "I tried to get all the lawyers we could get our hands on -- and then sought more."

Reports

CRS - "Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2007," updated January 14, 2008.

"U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT): Overview and Application to Interrogation Techniques," updated January 25, 2008: Old

"Data Mining and Homeland Security: An Overview," updated December 5, 2007

Fusion Centers: issues and options for Congress, by Todd Masse and others, Congressional Research Service, July 6, 2007. Report on how intelligence networks set up to share information on terrorism have drifted into conventional law enforcement, and the effect that has on civil liberties.

"Limitation of Authority to Deputize DoD Uniformed Law Enforcement Personnel by State and Local Governments," DoD Instruction 5525.13, September 28, 2007

Psychological Operations (PSYOP)

CRS - "P.L. 110-55, the Protect America Act of 2007: Modifications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," August 23, 2007

"Congress's Contempt Power: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure," July 24, 2007

"Civil Affairs Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures," U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-05.401, September 2003 (535 pages, 10 MB PDF file) - handling civilian populations during military actions.

CRS, "Congressional Authority To Limit U.S. Military Operations in Iraq," updated July 11, 2007."A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Use of National Security Letters," DoJ Office of Inspector General, March 2007 (199 pages in a large 11 MB PDF file)

Protection of National Security Information, CRS, June 30, 2006

Probable Cause, Reasonable Suspicion, and Reasonableness Standards in the Context of the Fourth Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: CRS, January 2006.

The September 11 Detainees: A Review of the Treatment of Aliens Held on Immigration Charges in Connection with the Investigation of the September 11 Attacks, Office of the Inspector General, June 2003

Congressional Research Service, Treaties and Other International Agreements: The Role of the United States Senate, A Study Prepared for the S. Comm. on Foreign Relations, 106th Cong., (Comm. Print 2001)

Link to information on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Briefs

Martial Law

Cases

Alien Tort Claims Act

Alien Tort Claims Act cannot be used for breach of medical research ethics - Adamu v. Pfizer, Inc., 399 F.Supp.2d 495 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (remanding case)

Saleh v. Titan - 2007

Turkman v. Ashcroft, 2006

General Cases

Boumediene v. Bush, 476 F.3d 981, 375 U.S.App.D.C. 48 (D.C.Cir. 2007) - GITMO detainee case with a history of habeas corpus for aliens

Mayfield v. United States (D. Or. Sep. 26, 2007) - Oregon Federal District Court strikes Patriot Act provisions adopting the signficant purpose test for warrants under FISA, which allows warrantless searches when the primary purpose of the search is collecting criminal evidence, rather than collecting evidence of national security threats.

Court holds military tribunals do not have jurisdiction over Guantanamo detainees - Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 126 S.Ct. 2749 (2006)

Federal tort claims act does not apply to actions outside the U.S. - Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 124 S.Ct. 2739, 542 U.S. 692, 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004)

US Courts have Jurisdiction of Claims of Foreign Detainees - Rasul v. Bush, 124 S.Ct. 2686 (2004)

Jurisdiction for Habeas Corpus of US Detainees- Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 124 S.Ct. 2711 (2004)

Military cannot deny habeas corpus to citizen detainee - Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 124 S.Ct. 2633 (2004)

Good review of video surveillance by the government - United States v. Koyomejian, 946 F.2d 1450 (9th Cir. 1991)

Congress may limit but not abolish due process rights for national security employees - Webster v. Doe, 108 S. Ct. 2047, 486 U.S. 592 (1988)

Reid v. Covert, 77 S. Ct. 1222, 354 U.S. 1 (1957) - Dependents of military personnel cannot be tried under the UCMJ without a jury.

U.S. v. Reynolds, et al., 73 S. Ct. 528, 345 U.S. 1 (1953) - Supreme Court creates official secrets exception to discovery

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) - Court limits presidential power to seize private property

Supreme Court rules that the draft is constitutional - Selective Draft Law Cases., 38 S. Ct. 159, 245 U.S. 366 (1918)

Federal destruction of property for public protection is not a taking - Juragua Iron Company v. United States., 29 S. Ct. 385, 212 U.S. 297 (1909)