ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS --- LAWFARE BLOG 

First Amendment
What’s in a Name? Quite a Bit, If You’re Talking About Section 230

Jeff Kosseff Thu, Dec 19, 2019, 1
As Congress decides whether to change the legal underpinnings of the internet, we need a better understanding of why it passed Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the first place.

Social Media  

AS SEEN ON RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC, FRIDAY DECEMBER 20, 2019
The Biggest Social Media Operation You’ve Never Heard of 

Is Run Out of Cyprus by Russians

 Lisa Kaplan Wed, Dec 18, 2019
What the heck is TheSoul Publishing, and how did it get tens of of millions of followers on YouTube and Facebook? And what is it doing with them?

• Reflecting on Torture After ‘The Report’

  Steven M. Kleinman Dec 16, 2019

• On the Cliff Edge of a New Stage of the Libyan Conflict

  Frederica Saini Fasanotti Dec 20, 2019
• Federal Judge Rules Trump Cannot Spend Emergency Funds on Border Wall

Jacob Schulz   Wed, Dec 11, 2019, 11:30 AM
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled that President Donald Trump's border wall emergency proclamation, which gave the administration the ability to use funding for other activities to pay for construction of the border wall, was unlawful. The ruling also permanently enjoined the heads of the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior and the Treasury Department from using emergency construction funds for the wall other than those appropriated by Congress in the 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)

ISRAELI ATTORNEY GENERAL CHALLENGES ICC JURISDICTION IN PALESTINE

Gordon Ahl   Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 10:22 AM

The Office of the Attorney General for the state of Israel released a detailed memorandum to explain why the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over Palestine. The memo argues that Palestine has failed to meet the necessary precondition of possessing criminal jurisdiction over its territory since a sovereign Palestinian state does not exist at this time. The memo is available here and below.





DOCUMENTS

Judge Rules Snowden Cannot Profit From Book

Jacob Schulz   Wed, Dec 18, 2019, 11:09 AM
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the government can collect the proceeds from Edward Snowden's new book because the book contains disclosures that violate Secrecy Agreements that Snowden had signed with the CIA and the NSA. The ruling can be found here and below.

• CONGRESS

  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020

  Gordon Ahl   Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 3:08 PM

  Members of the House and Senate conference committee on the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) have agreed on a final version of the bill. The summary and bill are available below.

  Summary of NDAA for FY 2020

• DOJ OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
• Justice Department Inspector General Releases Report on the Russia Investigation
• Mikhaila Fogel   Mon, Dec 9, 2019, 2:03 PM

  On Monday, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General released a report on its review of the four FISA applications and other aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation, which explored any possible coordination or connection between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election. The document is available here and below.     

• THE UKRAINE CONNECTION

  Office of Management and Budget Issues a Memo on Withholding Ukraine Aid

  Mikhaila Fogel   Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 3:32 PM
  
  
  The Office of Management and Budget has released a memo defending the legality of its decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine–about which questions have been raised in connection with the impeachment inquiry. The memo is available here and below.