National Security Law

Old exam - note that this was a slightly different course that included public health law.

Exam Notes - (check back periodically - I will post updates based on pre-exam questions

Text - Dycus, et al, National Security Law, 4th Edition (2007). Be sure you are getting the right book, not the old edition.

You can get copies of the first three chapters from my secretary, Karen Taylor if the books are not in the bookstore by 2 Jan 2007

Jan 9

Chapter 1 and 2.

Jan 11

Chapter 3

Think about how these same issues are worked out in administrative law or conlaw contexts that do not involve national security claims.

Congressional Powers

Declaring war

Raise and support armies

The navy

Regulation of the military

Calling up the militia

Governing state militias

Presidential Powers

Commander in Chief

Ambiguous Powers

Habeas corpus

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10340 - Steel seizure

The Office of Homeland Security & the Homeland Security Council

16 Jan

Chapter 4 - check out the National Security News Blog - http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

18 Jan

Chapter 5 and any carry over material from chapter 4. - Study Questions

23 Jan

Continue with Chapter 5 - we may not finish because this relevant to the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. This chapter deals with the role of the Congress in an imperfect war - which is now playing out in Iraq. Look to the news for the current conflict between Pelosi and Bush and how it relates to our materials. - Study Questions

25 Jan

Finish Chapter 5 and read Chapter 6 - Study questions

Fresh Air Interview: Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada is the first American officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq on the grounds that he thinks the war is illegal. He is joined by one of his lawyers, Eric Seitz, a civilian. Watada is now being court-martialed for his refusal, and for statements he made opposing the war and the Bush administration's leadership.

What do you think of his chances?

30 Jan

Finish Chapter 6.

Background on the Iraq War - Before the War - Bremmer We are looking at this material as a prelude to what I expect will be the target of congressional hearings. Think about questions such as the president's legal authority to make policy decisions for other countries, i.e., Iraq. Does this require additional congressional authority, or is it incident to making war? Could the president claim the Iraq oil revenue to defray US war costs? How far does the president's war powers extend in the governance of occupied territory?

Kent State

Study questions

1 Feb

Chapter 7 Study questions

6 Feb

Chapter 8 - Resources:

Vietnam - History - Historical Atlas - War Timeline - Robert S. McNamara - Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Indonesia - Map of Indonesia - 1950-1965 - 1965-1998

Study questions

8 Feb

Chapter 9 - War Powers Resolution - Questions

13 Feb

Chapter 10 - study questions

15 Feb

Chapter 11 - short chapter. The reading will pick up after the break. I am at meetings in New Orleans today, and may not be able to post study questions. We will go through the UN charter provisions in detail, looking at what they require of member states, how congress tried to modify them with the UN Participation Act, and then how they played out in the Korean and Persian Gulf police actions. Also take a look at the full text of EO 12,333 - Executive Order 12,333, as amended - note that this is a long order, and assassinations are only one line of it. There is no distinction between domestic and foreign.

study questions

22 Feb

Chapters 12&13 - Equal time for Reagan - This is not for class discussion, but is a more sympathetic view of Reagan.

Study questions - we are stopping with Chap 12. Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq - 2002

27 Feb

The roll call on the authorization for the Iraq war: Senate House - There were a lot more democratic no votes than I remembered in class. What is the implication of that for the yes votes?

Finish Chapter 13 held over from last class. This will be a brief discussion. - study questions

Read Chapter 14, through page 355. This is a general introduction to intelligence. Think about sources of intelligence, how they can be collected, how this has changed since the drafting of the constitution, and the impact of the Internet and high tech electronic communications.

1 March

No class. Start reading Secrecy News to get an idea of the hot topics. Finish Chapter 14.

6 March

Read through p 404. chart - study questions

8 March

Finish Chapter 15 - study questions - chapter 15 part I - we will spend some class time on the Scooter Libby case.

13 March

Finish discussing Chapter 15 - Iran Contra in the light of the Church Committee principles and recommendations. Talk about the transition from civilian-based (CIA) military actions to military-based special forces and the implications for command and control and accountability. study questions - read these carefully

15 March

Chapter 16 - study questions

There was a big controversy last week about the inappropriate use of national security letters. We will discuss these in Chapter 20, but you can read the GAO report here. We will read parts of this for class.

"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." - not assigned at this point, but you might find it interesting.

20 March

Chapter 17 and 18. Study questions - Chapter 17 (typos corrected - 8:31 AM, 20 March 2006) (this will take up the class)

22 March

Read to 512, which is the first pages of Chapter 19. This gives us a good set of cases with those in Chapter 18. Read them carefully, I want to parse them carefully in class. We are getting into the meat of surveillance law. Study questions - Chapter 18.

27 March

Finish Chapter 19. Update on coastal populations - China is at risk. Study questions - Chapter 19.

29 March

Really read Chapter 19 - we are going back through everything in detail to make sure you understand what is going on. Test - Chapter 19 in Word

3 April

Chapter 20 - Study Questions - word - html

5 April

Read the executive summary of GAO report on NSLs. Look for information on effectiveness and proposed reforms.

Chapter 21. Study questions - word - html

10 April

Chapter 22 reviews the authority for national security surveillance and provides more detail on the post-Patriot Act coordination of domestic and international investigations. Much of this is repetitive and we will not spend much, if any, time on it. Read through Chapter 23, which looks at the case law on foreign surveillance.

Study questions - word - html

12 April

Chapters 23 & 24 (corrected 24 & 25) - Study Questions - word - html (This was a typo, it should have been 24 & 25, since we had already reviewed 23 last class. If you did not notice this, I am sorry if caused confusion. The class discussion on habeas corpus history is not from the book. You are not responsible for this history on the exam. You can read more about habeas here.)

17 April

Chapter 25 (if you have not read it already) and Chapter 26 - Study questions - word - html

19 April

Chapter 32. The Domestic Role of the Armed Forces (we will skip ahead and finish with this chapter because of it relevance to Katrina and future hurricanes)

Exam Notes

(check back periodically - I will post updates based on pre-exam questions