National Security Law

SLN #: 15304
Course Prefix: LAW-691
Course Section: 014
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor(s): Gordon
Course Books: View List of Books

Course Description:
After 9/11, the United States declared “War on Terror.” However, unlike our prior wars, this war has no geographic boundaries or temporal limits. The “enemy” is not a nation but a cause. Enemy “troops” are made of citizens from many countries, including United States’ citizens. This seminar explores some of the legal issues on how we conduct this “war,” including rules of engagement, intelligence gathering for “security purposes” and how we treat enemy combatants. At the foundation, we look at the major constitutional, statutory, cases and treaty provisions that set the current “law of war.” This includes the respective appropriate roles of the President, Congress and the courts. We will explore the basic legal question of our we dealing with enemies, common criminals or both.

Much of the course will be built around the lessons we have learned or haven’t learned from Guantanamo, from “taking out” Anwar Al-Awlaki and the current controversy over NSA intelligence gathering.

There are also myriad of operational questions. How and where do we capture, detain, and interrogate terrorists or suspected terrorists? How do we gather information? What is the role of FISA and NSA? How does domestic surveillance differ from overseas data gathering? How do we distinguish between domestic criminals, enemy combatants and illegal enemy combatants? How do we distinguish between war enemies who may be subject to trial in military commissions and domestic terrorists who are subject to traditional criminal proceedings? Are military commissions legitimate in this context and how do they differ from article III proceedings?

Ultimately we are faced with the question of whether this is really war, where are the boundaries between war and crime, do traditional notions of the law of war even apply?

The course materials will be handouts including cases, constitutional provisions, statutes, treaty excerpts, major speeches and policy papers, current headlines and articles and references to much of the current literature on these difficult subjects. There will not be any assigned textbook.

Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 2
Grading Option: Letter Grade Only
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: Yes
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: No
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Final Exam Given: No
Paper Or In-Class Presentation: Yes
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies

* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.