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Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and a member of the National Advisory Board of Veterans for Peace.Her most recent book is Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues. See http://marjoriecohn.com/ . .
SHARE Thursday, January 18, 2018 We Cannot Expect a President With Racism "in His DNA" to Save DACA
Trump ended temporary protected status for 200,000 people from El Salvador, effective September 2019; many of them have been in the United States for 20 years. In November, Trump had halted temporary protected status for 59,000 Haitians, who are still reeling from the earthquake and cholera epidemic that have devastated that country.
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, May 13, 2011 Torture Is Never Legal and Didn't Lead Us to Bin Laden
Torture is not simply illegal, immoral and ineffective. It is also counter-productive. Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora testified before Congress that the two most effective recruiting tools for those who would do harm to our soldiers in Iraq were Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. When people see the U.S. government torturing detainees from their countries, they resent us even more.
SHARE Monday, October 3, 2016 Trump's Blindness Toward Slavery, Jim Crow
Donald Trump's remarkable comments about American blacks never being worse off demonstrated a stunning ignorance of or callousness toward the grotesque evils of slavery and Jim Crow, writes Marjorie Cohn.
SHARE Friday, October 20, 2017 Trump and Netanyahu Walk in Lockstep on Iran
In spite of the fact that the IAEA has affirmed eight times -- most recently in August -- that Iran is meeting its obligations under the deal, Trump refused to certify Iran was in compliance and he decided the deal is not in the US national security interests.
(7 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Hillary Clinton's Link to a Nasty Piece of Work in Honduras
A critical difference between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton is their position on whether children who fled violence in Central American countries, particularly Honduras, two years ago should be allowed to stay in the United States or be returned. Sanders states unequivocally that they should be able to remain in the U.S. Clinton disagrees. She would guarantee them "due process," but nothing more.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, July 14, 2019 Trump Can't Get Enough of Terrorizing Immigrants
President Trump gave up his fight to ask people about their citizenship on the 2020 census. He has been trying to add this to the census since 2017, which would have resulted in a significant under-count by dissuading people in households with undocumented residents from responding to the census. An estimated 6.5 million people could be uncounted if the question were included, according to the Census Bureau.
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, March 1, 2019 Cohen Knows What Trump Is Capable Of. His Testimony Should Terrify Us.
"Trump is a cheat," Cohen testified. He described Trump inflating and deflating his assets as it suited his financial interests. Trump would direct Cohen to call small business owners to whom Trump owed money and tell them they would receive no payment or a reduced payment.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, February 25, 2019 Trump Threatens a Second Embargo of Cuba
For 59 years, the United States has maintained a cruel embargo against Cuba. "The embargo on Cuba is the most comprehensive set of U.S. sanctions on any country, including the other countries designated by the U.S. government to be state sponsors of terrorism Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria," according to the U.S. government.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 3, 2021 Supreme Court Drives a Stake Through the Heart of the Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court construed what was left of the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) to uphold two Arizona voter suppression laws that civil rights organizations had challenged for disproportionately burdening voters of color.
SHARE Friday, July 12, 2019 Trump Gives Up Citizenship Question But Doubles Down on Terrorizing Immigrants
The census is used to calculate how many seats each state will have in the House of Representatives, the number of Electoral College votes each state will get in the presidential elections beginning in 2024, and how $900 billion in federal funds will be distributed to the states annually for hospitals, schools, health care and infrastructure for the next 10 years.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, May 6, 2018 Trump Disregards Caravan Migrants' Legal Right to Apply for Asylum
The 1951 Refugee Convention requires the United States to accept and consider asylum applications. Applicants must show they are unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
(5 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 25, 2018 Israel Illegally Enshrines Apartheid in Its "Basic Law"
On July 19, 2018, the Israeli Knesset enacted a law that illegally enshrines a system of apartheid. The legislation, which has the force of a constitutional amendment, strips away any pretense that Israel is a democracy. Moreover, it violates customary and treaty-based international law.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, June 29, 2017 Gorsuch Leans Far Right in Muslim Ban Case
The travel-ban issue is still alive. We will see whether the Supreme Court decides the issue on its legal merits and defines the scope of executive power in national security matters, or dismisses the case as moot. Meanwhile, we would do well to note the significance of Gorsuch's affirmation of unbridled executive power.
(4 comments) SHARE Sunday, February 5, 2017 Though Blocked for Now, Trump's Unconstitutional Muslim Ban Deserves Total Destruction
None of the 9/11 hijackers came from any of the seven countries. There have been no fatal terrorist attacks on US soil by anyone from those countries. Therefore, there is no compelling state interest for treating the two classes differently. This is particularly true in light of Trump's statements that his order would prioritize "Christians" seeking asylum over "Muslims."
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, August 27, 2016 California May Abolish the Death Penalty
There is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime. Capital punishment has been applied arbitrarily due to inherent bias, local political pressures on prosecutors and judges, and lack of access to quality defense attorneys by those convicted. According to Death Penalty Focus, the race of the victim and the race of the defendant are major determinants in who is sentenced to death in this country.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, January 16, 2012 Close the Guantánamo Gulag
The very existence of the Guantánamo prison camp harms America's international reputation. A January 2005 editorial in Le Monde concluded, "The simple truth is that America's leaders have constructed at Guantánamo Bay a legal monster." Moreover, it has created more enemies of the United States.
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, July 25, 2016 Killing with robots increases militarization of police
the Dallas police chose to execute Johnson with their killer robot. This was an unlawful use of force and a violation of due process. Due process means arrest and fair trial. It is what separates democracies from dictatorships, in which the executive acts as judge, jury and executioner.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, December 17, 2018 Trump Can and Should Be Indicted
As evidence of law breaking by Donald Trump continues to emerge, commentators are speculating about whether a sitting president can be indicted. The Department of Justice has twice opined in the negative -- during both the Nixon and Clinton administrations. But nothing in the Constitution would prevent Trump from being criminally indicted while he occupies the Oval Office.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 6, 2021 UN Report Calls for Reparations for Victims of Systemic Racist Police Violence
Bachelet's report is a powerful call to arms to states around the world to dismantle systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent. Activists as well as legislators must use it to effect real change and dismantle systemic racism.