CWRU Law School NSA Wiretapping Moot Court

[BillORightsMan]

I went to this event tonight.
Case Western Law School to Host Mock Congressional Hearing on NSA Wiretap Controversy

There is a link to the video at the link. I recommend watching (about 90 min.).

One of the handouts they gave out was


The Cleveland Principles of International Law on the Detention and Treatment of Persons in Connection with "The Global War On Terror"

Introduction
In the context of revelations about the mistreatment of detainees at U.S. detention centers in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan; the practice of “irregular rendition” as a means of outsourcing torture; the existence of US-created “black sites” where “ghost detainees” are interrogated abroad; and the content of the leaked “White House Torture memos” – the Cleveland Principles were adopted by the undersigned experts who took part in the “Torture and the War on Terror” Conference at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 7, 2005. The Principles have been endorsed by the numerous other experts whose names are also listed below. The undersigned include current and former high-ranking government, military, and international organization officials, prominent academics, and leading practitioners in the field – representing all ends of the political spectrum. The Principles are intended as a clear restatement, written in plain English, of the fundamental international legal rules that apply to the treatment of persons in connection with the so-called “Global War on Terror.” The goal was to produce a text that would be easy for the American public, members of the military, and members of Congress to understand – a text that would unambiguously spell out that in the context of the Global War on Terror, there is no law-free zone, torture can never be justified; outsourcing torture is unlawful; and that government personnel may be criminally liable for involvement in acts of torture.

I urge you to read it in its entirety.

CWRU hosted the 2004 vice-presidential debate, as you may recall.

:patriot:

[Berry Cool]

1. OK, I'm going to be anal here.

Not about the hearing itself...about the headline the blog used.

They should have known better than to call the school "Case Western" for short.

"Western Reserve" is a term in and of itself. You can't really use "Western" without "Reserve." It would make sense if "Western" was just a compass direction, but in this context it's not.

OK, rant over.

[BillORightsMan]

2. Case + Western Reserve

Western Reserve College was founded in 1826 in Hudson, Ohio, a town 26 miles southeast of Cleveland. The College took its name from that of the region, known at the time as the Western Reserve of Connecticut.

In 1877 Leonard Case, Jr., a leading citizen of Cleveland, began laying the groundwork for the Case School of Applied Science by donating valuable pieces of Cleveland real estate to a trust that would provide an endowment for a new engineering school.

In 1967, after being neighbors for 81 years, the two schools federated to become Case Western Reserve University.

About Case

Now don't you feel silly?

:patriot:

(We surely have more pressing issues than semantics, don't we?)

[hydrashok75]

3. Indeed...

...as much as some of my pet issues are important to me (preventing animal cruelty, environmental issues, drug legalization, etc), I can't think of a more important issue facing all of us than the openly proffered erosions of our civil liberties that we see day in, day out under the current administration.

I love saying that sort of thing in a room full of Republicans. :D