The Alien Tort Claims Act was passed by the First Congress to combat piracy on the high seas, but since 1980 has found new use as a weapon against human rights abuses and genocide. Around the 1990s, plaintiffs began using the ATCA against corporations, rather than individuals, and ATCA became much more controversial.
Opponents of the law, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Justice, believe that the law is overly broad, misapplied, and that it could create a whole host of diplomatic horrors. Supporters contend that the ATCA is a valuable tool to combat human rights abuses.
In this context, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday in Sosa v. Alavarez-Machain that foreign nationals could use the Alien Tort Claims Act to sue other foreign defendants in U.S. civil court for violating the “norms of customary international law,” although the abuses in Sosa specifically did not meet these standards.
The decision validates a number of pending cases, but raises the bar for plaintiffs who must now prove that the defendant violated international human rights laws. In short, the court ruled that “…for the purposes of civil liability, the torturer has become
Now that Jack Ryan has dropped out of the IL Senate Race (if you don’t know why, maybe you should…
…ok, ok, his recently unsealed divorce records contained the stunner that he repeatedly asked his ex-wife, hot sci-fi action “actress” Jeri Ryan, to engage in public “acts” during numerous trips to sex clubs in the US and, umm, France. Hey she is an actress, right?)
The buzz is that the GOP may ask Patrick Fitzerald, US Attorney, to be Barak Obama’s doormat. Fitzgerald is the attorney who just yesterday questioned President Bush in the Oval Office as the lead investigator of the Plame Affair.
Quite a week for this guy.In case anyone cares, other names being tossed around include state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger and dairy owner Jim Oberweis, both of whom lost to Ryan in the primary, and former state Board of Education chairman Ron Gidwitz.
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Posted 25 June 2004
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From WaPost: “On Tuesday, Cheney, serving in his role as president of the Senate, appeared in the chamber for a photo session. A chance meeting with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became an argument about Cheney’s ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy services corporation, and President Bush’s judicial nominees. The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice.
“Fuck yourself,” said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.”
… Make that a weak, wheezing, somewhat unreliable heartbeat from the Presidency. Unfortunately, no press accout I have read thusfar gives Leahy’s reaction— which in my book is an essential part of the story.
Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity
Clash With Leahy About Halliburton
By Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 25, 2004; Page A04
A brief argument between Vice President Cheney and a senior Democratic senator led Cheney to utter a big-time obscenity on the Senate floor this week.
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“Schuelke said that scientists have no way to tell how common the boy’s ability is, or if a legion of super-strong tykes will be discovered now that researchers have learned what to look for.”
via The Age
When Bruce Schneier speaks, everybody listens. In his latest Cryptogram he effectively describes just how complicated the Chalabi betrayal has become. We might have know, they might have known, they might have known that we knew, and we might have known that they knew… and so on.
Most interesting is that the world’s secrets are being kept by private companies, like Crypto AG, and we’re relying on market forces to ensure that they produce an effective, secure product. If they’re considered suspect or compromised, they’re out of business. For all but the most powerful countries (the U.S.), this is what you rely on to ensure that your communications are secure.
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Posted 18 June 2004
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We’ll be giving away a six pack of Mickey’s Big Mouths to the person who comes up with the best thought bubble for above John McCain’s head.
By now you may have heard the statement Sam Nunn gave today regarding yesterday
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Posted 17 June 2004
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I spent last night on a downtown DC roof deck with a group of people who can only be described as inside. Their clear consensus is that John Kerry’s running mate has all but been chosen and it will be former GA Senator Sam Nunn. This squares with what I heard Kerry tell a small group of big donors not long ago that he does not believe he can win without the South and his Veep choice will reflect this. And all this time I thought he was talking about Mary Landrieu…
Today, the NY Post (!) reports that the FBI is vetting the professional corporate board member. This is news, I think to most people. Isn’t that the job of the Kerry campaign? Do you think they’re planning to detain Nunn for a few months to soften him up?
What most interesting about this to me is not the regionalism, which Bush/Cheney, Clinton/Gore, and probably Bush/Quayle (a youth play) proved to be overrated. Rather it’s 1) the comfort of big biz with Nunn (thereby exposing that Kerry may think he needs some shoring up in this dept.) and 2) his leadership role in the area of nuke proliferation.
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Posted 16 June 2004
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Scott McClellan has to go into a room the size of a mop closet twice a day with 30 of the world’s sharpest journalists and answer for his boss. From today’s lashing:
Q Why do you say you’ve made it clear on Geneva Conventions when it’s — obviously, they’ve been violated ever since we went into Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: Are you talking about the abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib?
Q And Guantanamo and everywhere else.
MR. McCLELLAN: I don’t know what specifically you’re referring to, everywhere else…
Q I’m saying that you people have never said definitively that you are obeying the Geneva Conventions.
MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, no, we made it very clear when it comes to Iraq that the Geneva Convention did apply.
Q Consistent with, you say, but —
MR. McCLELLAN: No, not in Iraq. In Iraq we made it very clear the Geneva Convention applies.
Q Can I ask about Vice President Cheney, because yesterday he repeated what is a very controversial claim. He said that Saddam Hussein had long-established ties with al Qaeda. Does the President believe that Saddam Hussein had long-established ties with al Qaeda?
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Posted 15 June 2004
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I'm the Chief Technology Strategist for the Red Hat US Public Sector group, an open source and free culture advocate, a picky drinker, an amateur aesthete, and a dog enthusiast.
