In “A Matter of Interpretation,” Justice Scalia contends that the only correct way to interpret a democratically adopted document like the U.S. Constitution is by looking into the “original meaning” of the text. He insists that the judge’s role in interpreting the Constitution ought to be limited to that of safeguarding the “fixed” constitutional values as understood by the people who ratified it, until the people themselves choose to modify the...
Thursday evening, as part of the World Leaders Forum, United States Attorney General Eric Holder came home to Columbia to speak under Low’s rotunda. The Columbia College and Columbia Law alum first spoke about the Department of Justice’s efforts to fight financial fraud before he participated in a question and answer session with Columbia president Lee C. Bollinger where Holder discussed a wide range of issues from Holder’s time at Columbi...
s as if the world is repeating itself,” and Chiquita has proven no better than its predecessors. In fact, much like Marquez’s novel, everything seems to be coming full circle, back to Colombia. In a plea agreement with the US Justice Department on March 14, Chiquita agreed to pay a $25 million fine after the company confessed to making over one hundred payments amounting to $1.7 million to Colombian paramilitaries for “security services” between...
photo from Wikimedia Commons “Establishing a link between a judicial entity and a political entity…is a condition that does not ensure justice. Legal experts have always spoken of the independence of the judiciary…this is a fact that any first-year law student should know.” Such were the comments of Sudanese Ambassador Daff-Alla Elhag Ali Osman meant to discredit the work of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor, Luis Moreno...
Illustrations by Louise McCune As Americans, there are certain ideals for which we stand, such as freedom, liberty, and justice. Instilled deep within our hearts, these values must be protected by Americans from government intrusion. The Supreme Court, protecting the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution, has ruled that religious institutions “act as critical buffers between the individual and the power of the State,” serving as...
Jack Murphy, a political science major in the Columbia University School of General Studies, served for eight years in the United States Army before coming to Morningside Heights. He is managing editor of SOFREP.com, a special operations news and information site. His new book, Benghazi: The Definitive Report, co-authored with former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, is among the first accounts of the September 11, 2012 attack on the American consulate i...
arcerated drug offenders and dealers from the prison system and to treat, not punish, their addictions. Drug dealers selling more than three grams still go to prison. LEAD and the Missouri rehabilitation center are signs that justice systems around the country are realizing that for most, the traditional prison system simply does not work. Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs (VORP) are another example of the slow reconfiguring of the justice...
hosted by the Alliance Program with the Office of United Nations Development Program’s at the Columbia Law School. Representing prominent elements of both Libya and Tunisia’s transition governments, Kamal Bashir Idhan, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Libya, and Said Mechichi, State Secretary for Reform in the Ministry of the Interior of Tunisia, told the audience through translators of the recent histories of their turbulent countries and...
The nuclear industry, despite a rough patch in the past few decades, may be poised for a major renaissance. As the prices of conventional fuels such as coal and natural gas skyrocket, nuclear power has become increasingly attractive to utilities looking for stable operating costs, environmentally friendly sources of energy, and insurance against geopolitical threats to energy security. Finally, in an era of rising concern over energy security,...
Despite subsequent attempts to pass the DREAM Act in Congress, most recently by Harry Reid (D-NV), the bill has never become law. President Barack Obama’s executive order in 2012, nonetheless, directed his U.S. Department of Justice to stop the deportation of immigrants who fall under the provisions originally proposed in the DREAM Act. Apart from the DREAM Act, other Congressional attempts toward immigration reform have included the bipartisan...
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