International Law in the Trump Era: Expectations, Hopes, and Fears

Video and audio from this recent national Federalist Society event:

• What is the Future of Trade Law? with Timothy J. Keeler, John O. McGinnis, Alvaro Santos, and Matthew R.A. Heiman
• Alliances and Interventions, with Brian H. Hook, Lawrence Korb, Kristen Silverberg, and Jamil N. Jaffer
• Will International Law Matter to the Trump Administration? with John B. Bellinger, III, Rosa Brooks, and David Stewart

Applying the U.S. Constitution to Foreign Asylum Seekers:

'Exposing a Curious, Inconsistent Practice in the Federal Courts', by Shalini Bhargava Ray, at Marquette Law Review.

[Abstract] "Asylum law is based on an international treaty, but federal courts routinely invoke U.S. constitutional norms in adjudicating asylum claims. Specifically, they rely on constitutional norms when gauging whether an asylum applicant has suffered harm amounting to 'persecution' and whether the harm was inflicted “on account of” a protected characteristic, such as political opinion or religion. In a close analysis of this unusual practice, this Article argues that federal courts have come to inconsistent, and often incompatible, conclusions regarding the use of constitutional norms in the analysis of asylum claims: principally, on whether constitutional norms establish sufficient, insufficient, necessary, or unnecessary conditions for qualifying for asylum. In addition to exposing these inconsistencies, this Article offers insights into improving the current practice of using constitutional norms in deciding asylum cases. Ultimately, this Article seeks to start a larger discussion of the diverse roles of constitutional law in asylum law and of the relationship between U.S. constitutional law and international human rights law—what it is and what it should be."

National Security, Individual Liberty, and You

Last Thursday's conference at Marquette University Law School is linked at the event page [the "Watch Now" button].

International & National Security Law (through Mar 24)

Changes to Visa Waiver Program for ESTA Travelers, by Raluca (Luca) Vais-Ottosen, , DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C., Madison

First Sham Marriage Dooms Later Green Card Request, by Casey C. Sullivan, FindLaw 7th Circuit News and Information Blog, February 25, 2016 6:00 AM

Global Insight - February/March 2016, International Bar Association

Constitutional Lawyers and the Inter-American Court's Varied Authority, by Alexandra Valeria Huneeus, University of Wisconsin Law School, Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 79, No. 1, 2016, Univ. of Wisconsin Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1376, Social Science Research Network

Not All Habitual Drunkards Are Bad People, Appeals Court Rules, by Jacob Gershman, The Wall Street Journal, Law Blog

Stamping Privacy’s Passport: The Role of International Law in Safeguarding Individual Privacy, Wisconsin International Law Journal, Annual Symposium Friday, April 8th, 2016

International & National Security Law (through Feb 10)

International Law from a Cuban Perspective, by Ryan Scoville, Marquette University Law School, at Lawfare

WILJ 2016 Symposium Scheduled for April 8th, 2016, The Wisconsin International Law Journal

The globalist legal agenda, by Andrew C. McCarthy, review of On The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities, by Stephen Breyer, at The New Criterion

Relocation Reconsidered, Courtesy of Donald Trump, by Ken Masugi, at CRB Digital

Sentiments on a Peace Establishment, by George Washington, 2 May 1783, in Writings 26:374--76, 388-91, at The Founders Constitution

International & National Security Law update (through Jan 5th)

Reforming the State from Afar: Structural Reform Litigation at the Human Rights Courts, by Alexandra Valeria Huneeus, University of Wisconsin Law School, 40 Yale Journal of International Law 1 (2015), Univ. of Wisconsin Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1369, Social Science Research Network

Changes to Visa Waiver Program for ESTA Travelers, by Raluca (Luca) Vais-Ottosen, DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C., Madison

H‑1B Filing Season on the Horizon, by Benjamin T. Kurten, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., Milwaukee

New Guidance for I-9 Self Audits, by José A. Olivieri and Kelly M. Fortier, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee

How the Left Sees Islamic Terrorism

John Hinderaker at PowerLine

(via James Taranto)

Rep. James Sensenbrenner '68 presents history of USA Freedom Act to Kastenmeier audience

Olivia Grych at the Fall 2015 issue of Gargoyle

Undocumented stylebook

Ex-judges bolt legal journal over ban on term "illegal alien" http://t.co/i0qpt3Korj "The only legally correct term is 'illegal alien.'"

— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) September 17, 2015

New Procedures Will Allow for Early Filing of Adjustment of Status Applications

José A. Olivieri, Kelly M. Fortier and Kelly R. Rourke at Michel Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee

Major reform of international tax regime ahead

'The OECD’s final proposals for major reform of the international tax regime will be put to G20 leaders in November. Businesses and their advisers need to be ready.'

Jonathan Watson at IBA Global Insight

International Trade: New Initiatives

Ronald A. Cass, Dean Emeritus of Boston University School of Law and President of Cass & Associates PC, and C. Boyden Gray of Boyden Gray & Associates, at the latest issue of Engage: The Journal of the Federalist Society Practice Groups.

USCIS announces revised procedures for determining when individuals are able to file for adjustment of status

Monica Santa Maria and Gene T. Schaeffer, Jr. at Godfrey & Kahn S.C., Madison

'Ex Parte Merryman': Myth, History, and Scholarship

Seth Barrett Tillman of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI Maynooth) Faculty of Law, available for download at Social Science Research Network;

"Abstract:

"Ex parte Merryman is iconic. It is, arguably, the first major American case testing the scope of lawful military authority during war time. Not only during a war, but during a civil war. Not only were the civilian (judicial) authorities in conflict with the military authorities, but the Chief Justice of the United States clashed with the President — or, at least, that is the story as it is commonly told. It is an 1861 case, but the stakes were large and, sadly, the issues remain relevant if not eternal.

"However, the standard restatement of the facts and holding of Ex parte Merryman appearing in many (if not most) law review articles is wrong. Moreover, these mistakes are not unique to academic lawyers; a fair number of judges, historians, and academics in allied fields make the same or very similar mistakes. These repeated errors are somewhat surprising because Merryman is, if not a leading case, only one short step removed from the received case law canon. To put it another way, what is frequently written about Merryman is a series of myths. This Article seeks to disentangle Merryman’s many myths from reality."

#BlackLivesMatter and Nativism: Demagoguery at work

Rick Esenberg at Shark and Shepherd.

No, The 14th Amendment Doesn’t Guarantee Birthright Citizenship

Ann Coulter comments at Daily Caller.

"Citizenship in our nation is not a game of Red Rover with the Border Patrol! The Constitution does not say otherwise."

(via Mickey Kaus)

Your Patriotic Duty?: Post-9/11 Federal Compliance Requirements in Real Estate Transactions

Chris A. Jenny, Madison, and William R. West and Brittany L. Finlayson, Milwaukee, at von Briesen & Roper, s.c.

Call for Papers on Private International Law, Economics, and Development

Posted last week at The Federalist Society Faculty Division, and due "no later than 5:00pm Eastern Time on Friday July 31, 2015."

International Bar Association Launches Mobile App that Captures Verifiable Images to Aid Prosecution of Human Rights Atrocities

At the IBA,

"Now anyone with an Android-enabled smart phone – including human right defenders, journalists, and investigators – can download the eyeWitness to Atrocities app and help hold accountable perpetrators of atrocity crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes."

A Critique of Public International Law

In the form of Letter from Éamon De Valera to the Heads of Government of the Major Allied Powers - April 3, 1945, the last item of Correspondence in the latest issue of the Claremont Review of Books, by Seth Barrett Tillman.