N.J. lawyers push case against invasion of Iraq

[sabra]

Source: AP

Lawyers from New Jersey's Constitutional Litigation Clinic are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the invasion of Iraq violated the Constitution.

The Constitutional Litigation Clinic - one of six law clinics at Rutgers Law School-Newark - is representing an Iraq war veteran, two mothers whose sons were deployed to Iraq, and the antiwar group New Jersey Peace Action.

Their lawsuit, filed in 2008, was dismissed by both U.S. District Court in Newark and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia on procedural grounds.

A petition was filed Thursday asking the Supreme Court to hear the case. Lawyers claim President George W. Bush overstepped his constitutional authority by invading Iraq without formally declaring war. - AP



Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20101105_N_J__lawyers_push_case_against_invasion_of_Iraq.html

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. Might have been a great case - in 1991

What's the statute of limitation on unjustified invasions of sovereign nations? If I remember right, it was in 1991 that we stormed across into Iraq to impose our might.

I think maybe we should break open a good bottle of scotch on the 20th anniversary of this war's start.

Way to go, lawyers. Most timely.

:hi:

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Nice idea but it won't work...

He acted corectly under the War Powers Act. But it would be nice to see that bit of legislation taken down. Our founding fathers did not want the Pesident to have easy access to war.

[DCKit]

3. Sure they did.

And I'm also sure Jesus put that in the Constitution when he wrote it.

[No Elephants]

6. ?

[pasto76]

4. I think there are holes in this argument as well

such as quarterly reporting to congress. This is not a police action, the "authority to use force in Iraq" is not language that includes occupying and rebuilding a country for 7 years.

Also I would argue that "authority to use force" does not mean overthrow a government, or establish a provisional authority. If they have sussed out their arguments, and if the judges will actually listen objectively, this could get some traction.

However I predict that it will be derailed for some reason or another.

[struggle4progress]

5. So they've lost in District and Appeals and now they're aiming at SCOTUS?

Don Quixote. meet Windmill. Windmill, Don Quixote

[Downwinder]

8. I lost in District and the 5th Circuit panel, I prevailed in 5th Circuit En Banc and SCOTUS.

[struggle4progress]

11. I'm not a lawyer and I haven't read any of the filings. But, just off the top of my head:

it's pretty damn hard to get into court alleging that a declaration of war is unconstitutional

The courts will look for any excuse possible to throw the suit out. They won't give a merely advisory opinion. Beyond proving some real standing, including individual material interest beyond that of mere taxpayer, one needs to demand an explicit remedy, and one has to prevail against political issue claims; and here there may be the additional argument that the issue has been mooted by time

Finally, let's not pretend the courts are impartial apolitical purveyors of good sense: at least four justices are kneejerk votes for Bush, no matter what -- and it shouldn't be hard to point out a few more that would vote against hearing this

[No Elephants]

7. Do plaintiffs even have standing to sue?

[struggle4progress]

12. ... Rather than leaving to Congress the issue of whether to declare war and thereby invoke various

corresponding obligations, Plaintiff's would have this Court second-guess Congress's decision to authorize something short of "war." This is plainly not the judiciary's role ...
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Federal judge dismisses Iraq war legality lawsuit
Andrew Morgan at 10:47 AM ET
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/05/federal-judge-dismisses-iraq-war.php

quote from Judge Jose Linares' dismissal as being a political issue

[judesedit]

9. Don't give up. Keep it alive. Bush and cronies ARE war criminals. They lied us into war

Obama and cabinet was wrong for not persuing it as soon as they got into office. Wait until you see what the GOP has in store for them. More wasted tax dollars for sure. Look what they tried to do to Clinton when they were all having full blown affairs themselves.

[judesedit]

10. Excuse me. Were wrong. I added "and cabinet" after the fact

.

[Lurks Often]

13. It will get dismissed

Congress authorized the use of force in the first place and since both a Republican controlled and a Democratic controlled Congress have continued to fund both Iraq and Afghanistan almost ten years later, the Supreme Court is likely to rule that the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch have acted within the Constitution.


** The United States has NOT officially declared war since our declaration of war against Japan and Germany in WWII. There was no declaration of war for Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Grenada, Panama, Iraq I & II or Afghanistan.