Koh, No? Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Department Legal Adviser

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Harold Koh, President Obama's pick to become one of the State Department's top lawyers, has ignited fury among critics who say his legal views are a threat to American democracy




President Obama's nominee to be the State Department's legal adviser has ignited a fury among conservative critics who say his views are a threat to American democracy -- an accusation the White House on Tuesday called "outrageous" and "completely baseless."

Former Clinton administration official Harold Koh, who has been dean of the Yale Law School since 2004, once wrote that the U.S. was part of an "axis of disobedience" with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Koh also has long held that the U.S. should accept international law when deliberating cases at home.

Obama nominated Koh on March 23 to become the State Department's legal adviser -- an appointment that, if confirmed by the Senate, will give Koh far-reaching influence over the extent to which international norms affect U.S. law.

"This is not a desk job. This guy will be the face of American international law around the world," said Steven Gross, legal expert and fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

"The top legal adviser at State travels extensively and is involved in international legal negotiations, treaties and in major United Nations conferences.






Koh, No? Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Department Legal Adviser - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com







Who's got their head buried deep in the sand??
 
Hopefully his tax records will keep him at Yale. Seems to work for most Obummer nominees!!!
 
Koh to State as Legal Advisor
President Obama nominated current Yale Law Dean Harold Koh to the State Department as legal advisor. From the press release:

Harold Hongju Koh, Nominee for Legal Adviser, State Department

Harold Hongju Koh, Dean and Gerard C. & Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, is one of the country’s leading experts on public and private international law, national security law, and human rights. From 1998 to 2001, Koh served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. He previously served on the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Public International Law. A Marshall Scholar, Koh graduated from Harvard, Oxford, and Harvard Law School, and has received eleven honorary degrees and more than thirty awards for his human rights work, including awards from Columbia Law School and the American Bar Association for his lifetime achievements in International law. Following clerkships with Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, he served as Attorney-Adviser at the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice and practiced law at Covington & Burling. As a Yale law professor since 1985, Koh has taught courses, authored or co-authored eight books, published more than 170 articles, testified before Congress, and litigated numerous cases involving international law issues. A Fellow of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council of the American Law Institute, he has served on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law and as a Counselor of the American Society of International Law. He has sat on the boards of Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, Human Rights First, the American Arbitration Association, and the National Democratic Institute. He has been named one of America’s “45 Leading Public Sector Lawyers Under The Age of 45″ by American Lawyer magazine and one of the “100 Most Influential Asian-Americans of the 1990s” by A Magazine.

This is a great pick of someone with excellent human rights law background and the necessary political experience as a previous OLC staffer to ensure that the new administration follows the rule of law and protects American values abroad.

AAA-Fund Blog » Blog Archive » Koh to State as Legal Advisor
 
Obummer is all the egghead we need....Koh's philosophy is why we can't win wars anymore.
 
Koh to State as Legal Advisor
President Obama nominated current Yale Law Dean Harold Koh to the State Department as legal advisor. From the press release:

Harold Hongju Koh, Nominee for Legal Adviser, State Department

Harold Hongju Koh, Dean and Gerard C. & Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, is one of the country’s leading experts on public and private international law, national security law, and human rights. From 1998 to 2001, Koh served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. He previously served on the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Public International Law. A Marshall Scholar, Koh graduated from Harvard, Oxford, and Harvard Law School, and has received eleven honorary degrees and more than thirty awards for his human rights work, including awards from Columbia Law School and the American Bar Association for his lifetime achievements in International law. Following clerkships with Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, he served as Attorney-Adviser at the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice and practiced law at Covington & Burling. As a Yale law professor since 1985, Koh has taught courses, authored or co-authored eight books, published more than 170 articles, testified before Congress, and litigated numerous cases involving international law issues. A Fellow of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council of the American Law Institute, he has served on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law and as a Counselor of the American Society of International Law. He has sat on the boards of Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, Human Rights First, the American Arbitration Association, and the National Democratic Institute. He has been named one of America’s “45 Leading Public Sector Lawyers Under The Age of 45″ by American Lawyer magazine and one of the “100 Most Influential Asian-Americans of the 1990s” by A Magazine.

This is a great pick of someone with excellent human rights law background and the necessary political experience as a previous OLC staffer to ensure that the new administration follows the rule of law and protects American values abroad.

AAA-Fund Blog » Blog Archive » Koh to State as Legal Advisor

It is illegal and Unconstitutional for Judges to use NON US laws to decide cases or bring charges. It is Illegal and Unconstitutional for the US to be subject to foreign laws at all except those formalized in a TREATY between two States and APPROVED by the Senate.
 
This is a great pick of someone with excellent human rights law background and the necessary political experience as a previous OLC staffer to ensure that the new administration follows the rule of law and protects American values abroad.

AAA-Fund Blog » Blog Archive » Koh to State as Legal Advisor


So is this great pick going to challenge the Attorney General? So far, he and Obama have been falling in line right beind Bush....

Justice Department Invokes ‘State Secrets' Defense in Rendition Lawsuit - washingtonpost.com

Obama: No rights for Bagram prisoners - White House- msnbc.com
 

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