Margulies on the Arar argument; PNSR report; CTLab on urban warfare theory; forthcoming scholarship

1. Peter Margulies, Summary of the en banc argument before the 2^nd Circuit in Arar v. Ashcroft

For those of you who are interested in how the 2^nd Circuit might rule after en banc review in the Arar litigation (i.e., the civil litigation brought by Maher Arar based on his treatment upon seizure at JFK Airport and his subsequent transfer to Syria), I am forwarding a summary of the oral argument produced by Prof. Peter Margulies of Roger Williams.  C-Span broadcast the oral argument by the way, and though the video is not yet posted on their website I am told that they might be replaying it this Saturday evening.

2. Project on National Security Reform, “Forging a New Shield”

This multi-year project recommends substantial reforms to the national security establishment.  An overview, with links to the full document (weighing in at more than 800 pages) and the executive summary (just 33 pages), is here:

Kar v. Rumsfeld (D.D.C. Sep. 26, 2008)

* Kar v. Rumsfeld (D.D.C. Sep. 26, 2008)

A very interesting opinion by Judge Robertson.  Cyrus Kar is a US citizen who was arrested in Baghdad in 2005, and subsequently held by the US military for two months on suspicion of involvement with IED attacks.  He brought a Bivens claim for damages for alleged violations of his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights:

Fourth Amendment claim: the government violated the Fourth Amendment by (i) failing to provide him with a probable cause hearing or its equivalent for almost seven weeks and (ii) continuing to detain him even after determining that he was innocent;