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Examining the Anomalies, Explaining the Value: Should the USA FREEDOM Act’s Metadata Program be Extended?
Susan Landau & Asaf Lubin[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] Introduction The first of Edward Snowden’s disclosures was a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (“FISC”) order requiring that Verizon provide the National Security Agency (“NSA”) with daily Call Detail Records (“CDRs”) for all communications to, from, or within the United States.[1] The order, based on a FISC interpretation of Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, required Verizon to release all call routing information,...
Defense and Deference: Empirically Assessing Judicial Review of Freedom of Information Act’s National Security Exemption
Paulina Perlin[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] Introduction In 1981, the Washington Post submitted a request to the Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”)[1] for “information concerning the failed attempt in April, 1980, to rescue American hostages held in the United States embassy in Teheran.”[2] Invoking FOIA’s exemption for classified records,[3] the Department of Defense “withheld or partially withheld numerous documents . . . in large part due to concern for the...
First Amendment Sentence Mitigation: Beyond a Public Accountability Defense for Whistleblowers
Mailyn Fidler[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] Introduction In October 2018, the federal district court in Minnesota sentenced former Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) agent Terry James Albury to four years in prison under the Espionage Act for disclosing internal FBI documents to the press.[1] Albury pleaded guilty but contended he was a whistleblower acting in the public interest; he argued he had disclosed systemic racial biases within the FBI and throughout its investigations.[2] At...
Online Edition
The Case for Export Control Reform, and What it Means for America
Protecting Whistleblowers and Secrets in the Intelligence Community
Staying Strong: Enhancing Israel’s Essential Strategic Options
Ukraine’s Crisis Part 3: The Principle of Distinction and LOAC’s Key Goals
Ukraine’s Crisis Part 2: LOAC’s Threshold for International Armed Conflict
Ukraine’s Crisis: Implications for the Law of Armed Conflict
Emory Law Professor Laurie R. Blank argues that the conflict in Ukraine demonstrates the importance of sustaining the strict separation between the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and the jus ad bellum, a low threshold for recognition of international armed conflict, and the principle of distinction in today’s conflicts.
Hostage-Takers and Fleeing Felons: Questioning Two Analogies to the “Imminent Threat” of Terrorist Attack from Abroad
Amien Kacou, attorney at GPI Law PLLC, argues that analogies from the use of lethal force against hostage-takers or fleeing felons to justify targeted killings of suspected al Qaeda terrorists are misguided. Image courtesy of Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 2.5.
Crimean Diplomacy
Katherine Earle of AEI discusses the recent Crimean referendum to join Russia and the associated security implications. Image courtesy of Getty Images.
Monthly National Security Forum: February 2014
The Harvard National Security Journal is launching a new initiative. Each month, panelists will comment on a question posed by the NSJ staff. This month’s topic: metadata. Image courtesy of NASA.