VIDEO
Benjamin Wittes, November 18, 2009
The decision to prosecute alleged 9/11 master-mind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators in a civil trial in the Southern District of New York sparks debate on how to best try terrorism suspects. Benjamin Wittes offers his views on the significance of trying terror detainees in the U.S. civilian judicial system.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Russell Wheeler, October 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
October 20, 2009 marked nine months since President Barack Obama took office. Russell Wheeler compares the nomination process for the courts of appeals and district courts of the George W. Bush administration with the current one, focusing on nominations made, hearings held, nominees confirmed and nominee characteristics. Wheeler reveals two striking findings: the relatively paucity of Obama administration nominees and the delay in full Senate action on those nominees. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Washington, DC
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009-2010 term will consider major arguments on issues ranging from state’s rights and separation of powers to dog-fighting videos. On October 7, the Brookings Judicial Issues Forum hosted a panel discussion to preview the most anticipated and important cases. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC
On October 6, the Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable released a report proposing six policy changes to break the immigration reform stalemate, including emphasizing enforcement at the workplace, setting standards for the legalization of illegal immigrants and establishing an independent Standing Commission on Immigration. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
The Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable, October 06, 2009, The Brookings Institution, The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University
The immigration debate is exceedingly difficult given the challenges to the rule of law, exploitation of vulnerable newcomers, and real and perceived competition with Americans for jobs and public resources. The Immigration Policy Roundtable, a joint undertaking of Brookings and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, agreed on a set of recommendations that address the most vexing and controversial obstacles to immigration reform. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Cynthia Baldwin, September 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The challenges that the judiciary system in Uganda has faced are well known, but the country has come a long way from that past. In a new paper, Cynthia Baldwin proposes a four-part approach to control judicial corruption. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Russell Wheeler, August 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
With Justice Sonia Sotomayer confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court and President Obama set to fill a number of lower court vacancies, there is renewed attention on the demographic makeup of the U.S. judiciary. Russell Wheeler examines federal judicial demographic data from the Eisenhower administration to today. He concludes that while the face of the judiciary has markedly changed over the last 30 years, it hardly mirrors the general population.
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VIDEO
Russell Wheeler, August 07, 2009
Sonia Sotomayor took the judicial oath of office on August 8, becoming the first Hspanic and third woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Visiting Fellow Russell Wheeler examines how the Obama administration will impact the judicial system and what we can expect from Justice Sotomayor.
VIDEO
Benjamin Wittes, August 05, 2009
The Obama administration is considering two different options for prosecuting Guantánamo Bay detainees in the United States. One option calls for trying detainees in several different federal courts in New York, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The other idea is to try all such cases at a super-max prison in either Michigan or Kansas. Benjamin Wittes says resolving the many issues associated with Guantánamo Bay presents a challenge for the administration.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Sarah A. Binder and Forrest Maltzman, August 01, 2009, Judicature
The judicial appointment process – for both the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts – has been increasingly characterized by senatorial foot-dragging, declining confirmation rates, and protestations by both political parties. Sarah Binder and Forrest Maltzman explore the politics of judicial selection, focusing on partisan, institutional, and temporal forces that shape the fate of presidential appointments to the federal trial and appellate courts. Analyzing historical patterns from over the past 60 years, they find that the polarization of advice and consent worsened over the Bush years, but was broadly consistent with the deterioration of judicial selection over the past several decades. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Russell Wheeler, July 21, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The Obama administration announced plans to restructure how immigrants—most of whom have no criminal records—are detained. Immigration presents courts and administrative agencies tremendous challenges due to a lack of consensus and resources for total enforcement of laws governing entry to and status in the country. Russell Wheeler has explained why crafting better policies for institutions most responsible for enforcing the laws fairly should be part of the broader immigration reform effort. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes and Colleen A. Peppard, June 26, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Closing the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay by President Obama's January deadline is pressuring the administration to craft a new system for incarcerating terrorist suspects, possibly through an executive order. Benjamin Wittes and Colleen Peppard suggest instead a model law for terrorist incapacitation. Read More
VIDEO
Russell Wheeler, May 26, 2009
Russell Wheeler says there is no doubt that U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be confirmed to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court. The real question is whether she will be confirmed by the October start of the court.
VIDEO
Benjamin Wittes, May 22, 2009
As the national security debate continues, one question is whether the president has provided enough specifics for lawmakers to accede to his requests. There are no easy options for closing the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, according to Wittes; as commander in chief, Obama must weigh all risks to Americans.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes, May 21, 2009, The New York Times
Last week, President Obama outlined his approach to closing the Guantánamo Bay detention center on the heels of Congress voting overwhelmingly to block the $80 million he requested to close the the prison. The speech was forward-looking, writes Brookings expert Ben Wittes, in that he maintained the need for a preventative detention system created by Congress and overseen by the courts. Read More