31 January 2022
The Impact of 9/11 on Freedom of Expression in the United States
In the United States the actual impact of 9/11 and the subsequent “War on Terror” on speech and press freedoms has been complex, and in many ways much less than expected. In fact, free speech rights vis-à-vis the government remain largely robust in the United States; the real conflicts and issues today concern the role of private Internet companies, notably social media, in restricting free speech. Continue reading >>
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13 December 2021
Ein hohles Versprechen
In der Zeit nach dem 11. September haben wir erlebt, dass es den Gerichten nicht gelungen ist, das Wachstum des Überwachungsstaates einzudämmen, was neue Missbräuche indirekt fördert und billigt. Diese Ausweitung des Überwachungsstaates rückt zunehmend in den Mittelpunkt des politischen Diskurses in den USA. Wir sehen neue lokale Gesetze, die einige der missbräuchlichsten Technologien verbieten und die zivile Kontrolle wieder stärken. Continue reading >>
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13 December 2021
A Hollow Promise
Throughout the post-9/11 period, we’ve seen the courts fail to check the growth of the surveillance state, inviting and sanctioning new abuses. But we do see reason for hope. The expansion of the surveillance state is increasingly taking center stage in American political discourse. While it’s unclear if America’s political, legal, and constitutional systems will ever fully recover from the post-9/11 moment, it is clear that only mass political movement will be able to edge back us from the precipice of authoritarianism and reassert constitutional checks and the rule of law. Continue reading >>
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14 April 2021
COVID-19, the United States and Evidence-Based Politics
COVID revealed the extent to which attacks on evidence-based politics are part and parcel of the right-wing populist challenge to constitutional democracy in the United States and elsewhere. Right-wing populism challenges constitutional commitments to rule of law and basic liberal freedoms, as such strongmen as Erdogan. Orban and Maduro seize control of courts and persecute dissidents. Populist responses to the pandemic in the United States raise equally important questions about the constitutional commitments to science that are as important to constitutional democracy as the rule of law. Continue reading >>
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25 August 2020
„Wirtschaftliche Vernichtung“ unter Freunden
Die USA wollen den Bau der Nord Stream 2-Gaspipeline mit aller Macht verhindern. Angesichts der nahenden Fertigstellung drohen sie beteiligten europäischen Unternehmen nun offen mit gravierenden Wirtschaftssanktionen. Dies ist nicht nur politisch, sondern auch völkerrechtlich in hohem Maße problematisch. Continue reading >>04 June 2020
Corona Constitutional #32: Is the Reichstag burning?
Droht in den USA der Bürgerkrieg? Während die Gewalt in den Großstädten eskaliert, ließ sich der Präsident mit erhobener Bibel vor einer ausgebrannten Kirche fotografieren. Den Weg durch die demonstrierende Menschenmenge hat ihm die Polizei zuvor mit Tränengas freigeschossen. Die düsteren Assoziationen, die diese Bilder bei RALF MICHAELS hervorriefen, bespricht der Direktor des Max-Planck-Instituts für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht im heutigen Podcast mit Max Steinbeis. Continue reading >>
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09 April 2020
Underreaction in a Time of Emergency: America as a Nearly Failed State
Not surprisingly, those of us who write about emergencies have been far more concerned about overreaction than underreaction and we have been far more concerned about politically caused emergencies rather than natural disasters. History is littered with the cautionary tales of overreaction to politically caused emergencies. But the dangers of state failure evident in underreaction are underestimated. Continue reading >>
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22 March 2020
Fighting COVID 19 – Navigating Protections for Businesses and Workers in the United States
Given that COVID-19 has generated unprecedented orders for business closures and social distancing, we must examine what safeguards our legal system can offer. Are there protections for people who cannot go to work because they are sick or under quarantine orders? And if so, who provides the monetary compensation? When businesses are forced to close or events forced to cancel, are there any protections to help businesses recover from extreme losses of income due to an infectious disease outbreak? While our current legal system offers scattered safeguards in select jurisdictions, it is only now becoming obvious that reforms are needed to ensure an economic safety net, everywhere, as part of pandemic preparedness. Continue reading >>
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20 March 2020
Exacerbating the Public Health Emergency in Iran
Iran is one of the hardest hit countries by Covid-19. Responsibility for the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Iran is not limited to the Iranian government, however. Rather, that suffering has been exacerbated by the US blanket sanctions regime currently in place, a regime that was causing serious violations of the rights to health and to life in Iran even before Covid-19 magnified the dangers to public health. Continue reading >>
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20 July 2013
Brave New World
“Can I see your ID?” Inzwischen liegt die Vollendung meines […] Continue reading >>
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