Charlie Trumbull & @mikeschmitt.bsky.social explain why DOJ Office of Legal Counsel’s assertion that civilians can be targeted in armed conflict for "assisting in war-sustaining activities” is erroneous, a dangerous precedent, and not too late to be corrected:
#LOAC #IHL
This is the end of a successful regime of controlling some of the most dangerous and powerful weapons ever created. Although it was undermined by concerns about a lack of constraints on others, let’s hope that diplomacy can lead to new, multilateral efforts at curbing a new nuclear arms race.
This is a great resource for understanding the work of the U.S. Supreme Court
The President has announced that he is pulling the U.S. out of 66 int’l institutions, including the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change
As the research shows, this behavior is often a signaling device and political tool. Yet, in at least the case of the ABM Treaty, this type of behavior presaged the US's eventual exit from the treaty
Members of Congress have called on the president to withdraw from a number of prominent treaties in the past (orange circles), most prominently re the NATO SOFA in the 1950s-60s and the ABM Treaty in the late 90s
Massie's bill, H.R.6508, actually follows in a tradition of members calling for the president to exit from int'l organizations as I have shown in past research ssrn.com/abstract=508...
This week Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced a bill calling on the president to withdraw the US from #NATO after over 70 years of membership in the security alliance massie.house.gov/news/documen...
Starting today, the federal courts will reduce operations due to a lapse in funding.
Trump ‘determined’ the U.S. is now in a war with drug cartels, Pentagon tells Congress, as legal experts challenge rationale for military strikes against boats in the Caribbean
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Law Broncos! If you're on campus, come by to learn more about what the faculty and staff have been up to over the summer. See you there!
“A Noiseless Flash…” John Hersey’s “Hiroshima” is still powerful today 80 years later. www.newyorker.com/magazine/194...
Is the ICC’s appeals process fair? And does it matter?
I dive into 94 appellate decisions, judicial diversity, and why reversals might signal strength—not dysfunction.
Check out “Appeals to Fairness,” now out in UC Davis J. Int’l Law & Policy jilp.law.ucdavis.edu/archives/31/...
U.S. Says It Will Withdraw From U.N. Cultural Organization, Again www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/w...
A colleague emailed me today to flag the fact that the superb Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson ended a quotidian insurance opinion with an unusually introspective conclusion.
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
Unfortunately, this has become a trend in the current Congress. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
Congressman Brandon Gill (R-TX) introduces articles of impeachment against federal Judge James Boasberg; although it has little chance of success, it is a deeply concerning assault on an independent judiciary
Former #Philippines president #Duterte was arrested last week on an #InternationalCriminalCourt warrant
Among the reasons the case is notable, writes Jenny Domino, is “what it means for victims seeking justice for the killings in the Philippine ‘war on drugs.’”
www.justsecurity.org/109118/duter...
U.S. pulls back from supporting efforts to hold those responsible for the war and war crimes in Ukraine; no reason given beyond “the need to redeploy resources”
Although the U.S. is an influential actor, it cannot unilaterally change the international laws governing armed conflict. The U.S. remains a state party to numerous treaties, like the Geneva Conventions, that will remain in force despite overhauls in legal personnel.
The @justsecurity.org Litigation Tracker on the Trump Administration Actions has been a tremendously useful tool in following the many developments amidst all the noise in the media: www.justsecurity.org/107087/track...
www.congress.gov/bill/118th-c...
The act seeks to sanction any foreign persons investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting certain individuals (namely U.S. individuals or citizens of a U.S. ally that is not a state party to the Rome Statute or consent to ICC jurisdiction)
H.R. 23 (Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act), which passed the House on January 9, fails to proceed in the Senate—for now.
It will be interesting to see how members of Congress react to these efforts by the executive to unilaterally reshape U.S. international relationships
It is likely that before the withdrawal becomes effective (one year), there will be efforts to renegotiate the terms of the U.S. membership
