Legal Commentary

Well it's time to sign-off.  Much thanks to Dan for my time here.  I've enjoyed it. 

As I sign off, I thought I would briefly highlight a recent New York Post article on Obama's nomination of Harold Koh (Yale's Dean) for the State Department's Legal Advisor.  It's been getting some attention in the blogs (and early piece announcing the nomination here at the Volokh Conspiracy).  It also connects with some of Paul's recent posts on the citation of foreign law in U.S. decisions.

The New York Post's article can be found here. Strong responses that underscore how much of the Post's piece is made up or inaccurate have been written by Chris Borgen on Opinio Juris, Beth Van Schaack on Int'lLawGrrls, and on the Above the Law blog.  This is not to say I agree with Koh's legal theories; I'm not entirely enthusiastic about transnational legal process -- the concept Koh is most closely associated with.  But the Post article is particularly poorly done.  The main attack on Koh suggests that Koh believes that foreign law should control U.S. decision-making.  This is a claim that Koh certainly does not make, and I'm not aware of anyone else seriously making.  There's also a confusion between the use of foreign law and international law -- two distinct issues.