“No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.” — T. Roosevelt On August 8, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a [...]
We have all seen the firestorm of controversy over US Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland’s approval of a warrant application to search the home of former President Donald Trump. I personally have no doubts about Garland’s commitment to evenhanded justice and the rule of law. But these events demonstrate, more than ever, the urgent need [...]
Dear President Biden, Thank you for taking these first steps to implement student debt relief. Like many, we were surprised by the recent wrangling about how your debt forgiveness program could be implemented. We are writing to remind you that the federal government already has all of the tools, processes, and employees that it needs [...]
This commentary was written just before Raila Odinga filed his Supreme Court petition challenging the announced presidential result of Kenya’s general election. On 9 August, 2022, Kenyans turned out in large droves to elect the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya, and as in previous elections this one was marked by never-ending drama like [...]
The United Kingdom’s recent decision to triple the number of Chevening Scholarships for Ukrainian students gave me goosebumps. It was precisely the way a country should respond to a nation in crisis, I told myself. At the same time, it’s heartbreaking to know how selective this help can be. Not only has Afghanistan apparently failed to qualify [...]
During the Barack Obama presidency, the Justice Department prepared a 16-page unsigned, undated “White Paper” that outlined the administration’s legal reasoning justifying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-targeted killings of terrorism suspects if an informed high-level official decided that the target was a high-ranking al-Qaida figure or affiliate who posed an imminent threat of violent attack against [...]
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has called into question the responsiveness and effectiveness of many international organizations, particularly those dealing with economic matters. When the war broke out, the West made it clear they were unwilling to commit military forces to Ukraine. Instead, in addition to providing weapons, the decision was made to respond through economic [...]
“Civilization is the never-ending process of creating one world and one humanity.” Lewis Mumford, In the Name of Sanity (1954) Biological Sameness and Species Unification The unity and interdependence of humankind is not subject to reasonable challenge. Beginning with our biological sameness, species’ commonality includes a broad variety of human needs and expectations. In the [...]
Imagine a system under which the U.S. Supreme Court hears cases as panels consisting of three to five Justices rather than as a full court of nine. Suppose that the Chief Justice makes a five-Justice panel consisting of himself, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Elena Kagan to hear abortion [...]
In a June 2022 press conference, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deputy governor confirmed the government’s plan to adopt Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) gradually during fiscal year 2023. This comment was followed by Annual Report 2021–22, released by the RBI, stating CBDC would be introduced into the Indian economy through a three-step approach. [...]
