Recent Articles from Jack L.B. Gohn
Jack L.B. Gohn: Secession; The right that can be wrong
Secession and the prospects of secession have been much in the news. Eastern Ukraine, ISIS, and Scotland, to name three, are areas where there have been efforts to partition out a new country from an old one, or, in the case of ISIS, from two of them.
Jack L.B. Gohn: Same-sex marriage; The fight to shape ‘the next shoe’
When the Supreme Court decided U.S. v. Windsor last year and invalidated part of DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (which denied same-sex marriages federal recognition), it was clearly taking an interim step.
Jack L.B. Gohn: Full faith and accreditation
In a rational world, a notion recently floated by Peter Conn in the Chronicle of Higher Education would provoke a serious debate whether to de-accredit many religious colleges and universities.
Jack L.B. Gohn – Missing from the Awlaki memo: Almost everything that really matters
In a development that surprised many, the Second Circuit recently overturned the ruling of Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York blocking the release of the July 16, 2010 Office of Legal Counsel memo that blessed the 2011 CIA drone operation that cost Anwar al Awlaki his life.
Jack L. B. Gohn: Vital and inevitable – The decay of client confidentiality
Despite the old rhyme about Lizzie Borden (of Fall River, Massachusetts) taking an axe and giving her father forty whacks, Ms. Borden was acquitted of her parents’ murders. Her lead lawyer, George Dexter Robinson, former governor of Massachusetts, began his representation, on October 4, 1892, by conducting a three-hour, one-on-one interview with Ms. Borden in the Taunton jail.
Jack L. B. Gohn: The bad character of ‘good character’
To engage in many occupations, you will need a government-issued license. To win or renew your license, some statute will almost certainly require you to show “good character,” “good moral character,” “good character and reputation,” or something similar.
Jack L.B. Gohn: We need Congress to be the boss
I haven’t read it, and you haven’t read it, but now we kind of know what the 6,000-plus page December 2012 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report says: that the CIA’s War on Terror-era torture-and-rendition program brought no actionable intelligence to us, and was far more brutal than previously admitted.
Jack L.B. Gohn: Beachheads and enclaves
Beachheads and enclaves, whether social, legal, or military, can resemble each other a lot. Each is a small pocket where the norms of the outside world don’t apply.
Jack L. B. Gohn: Two things about Jersey City
Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City, N.J., sure was the perfect place to hear about the recent flap over the Coca Cola Super Bowl commercial.
Jack L.B. Gohn: Not treason
The fight to shape the public’s perception of Edward Snowden has recently steered us into interesting constitutional territory.
Jack Gohn: Not so law-abiding, not so exceptional
In a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Daniel Hannan posits that America is indeed exceptional, and that what makes it so is its adherence to law.
Jack L.B. Gohn: The Gansler photo and teen drinking
The picture of Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler in the midst of a beach house party full of clearly inebriated just-graduated high school seniors has drawn national attention and provoked national amusement, including a mention on Leno.