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David Rivkin's Articles (3)
Healthcare Reform (5)
Judicial coup in Pakistan
Source: Wall Street Journal- ASIA EDITION
When U.S. President Barack Obama sharply challenged a recent Supreme Court decision in his State of the Union address, prompting a soto voce rejoinder from Justice Samuel Alito, nobody was concerned that the contretemps would spark a blood feud between the judiciary and the executive. The notion that judges could or…
Rivkin on ACLU's attempt to defend terrorists (Wall Street Journal) Featured
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) recently launched a legal challenge against the president's right to kill al Qaeda operatives. If the suit is successful, it will undermine the Constitution's separation of powers and make it virtually impossible for the United States to successfully defend itself with military force in the future.
Since 9/11, the courts have increasingly encroached on the legitimate war-making powers of both the president and…
CNN: The Situation Room transcript: Immigration debate continues
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Let's dig deeper on that radical American cleric accused of inciting terror and holy war against the United States. Should the U.S. government be able to put him and other American citizens abroad on a list for targeted killing? That is at the center of a lawsuit filed today by these civil liberty groups. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has the details for us. What is going on?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, here is the deal, civil liberty groups want to bring the suit about the targeting list, but in effect, they say…
CIA Interrogations Have Their Day in Court
By Marc A. Thiessen and David B. Rivkin Jr.
CIA Interrogations Have Their Day in Court
Al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Ghailani provided a test case for CIA interrogations. The interrogations passed.
In February, we wrote in the Wall Street Journal about a classified brief filed in federal court in which the Obama Justice Department argued for the importance and efficacy of the CIA interrogation program. Now a federal judge has reviewed the evidence and agreed.
On Dec. 18, 2009, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, made…
Transcript of Rivkin discussing states' ability to check federal power on Fox News (July 13, 2010)
Host: How can states limits the federal government’s power? … the justice department says our best case is the supremacy clause in the Constitution that says no state law should eclipse the federal law. You realize that for instance, Maryland, one of a dozen states, is trying to rewrite the Constitution. How so?
David Rivkin: Well they are seriously considering having a Constitutional Convention, a constitution which, by the way has been amended for a number of times, to…
Obama's health plan getting tested in court
July 2, 2010
by Carrie Johnson, NPR
The Obama administration's biggest domestic policy accomplishment — the new health care law — is under steady legal attack.
On Thursday, lawyers argued the first case to hit the courts, filed by the attorney general of Virginia, which doesn't want to participate in the new federal health care plan. More than a dozen other state challenges are in the pipeline.
In a Richmond courtroom, Justice Department lawyers spent two hours squaring off against the state. The arguments represent the first stage of what could be…
War is no place for libel law
A federal court slaps down a novel claim from a Sudanese business bombed by the U.S. in 1998.
By: David B. Rivkin Jr. and Bruce D. Brown | Published in The Wall Street Journal | June 24, 2010
Rivkin forsees Constitutional debate with Kagan nomination
Taken from USA Today June 16, 2010.
By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey
Our perennial national debate over how to interpret the Constitution will soon be renewed, as the Senate considers the Supreme Court nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan.
In fact, former Justice David Souter set the discussion in motion last month in a Harvard commencement address— arguing that seeking to resolve difficult constitutional questions based on an honest effort to construe that document's words (whether broadly or narrowly) "has only a tenuous connection to reality" and leads to bad decisions.
Souter's candor is commendable but also genuinely troubling — the practical equivalent of a retired…
Transcript of David Rivkin on Obama's nuclear strategy, less than meets the eye? (May 5, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Nevertheless, the fact that the Russians are making such a big deal about the preeminent language and their dissipating loyal statement…
A failing grade for the Sestak report
Published in The Washington Post June 4, 2010. By William A. Burck and David B. Rivkin Jr.
Without knowing all of the facts, and particularly whether firm promises of government jobs were made, it cannot be ascertained at the moment whether dealings among Obama White House officials, former president Bill Clinton and Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak and Colorado House speaker Andrew Romanoff broke the law. What is…
The case against the land mine treaty
By David B. Rivkin, Jr. and Lee A. Casey [Posted from The Wall Street Journal May 26, 2010]
Sixty-eight senators have sent a letter to President Obama urging U.S. ratification of the Ottawa Convention. The 10-year-old treaty, banning the production and use of land mines, has been accepted by over 150 countries, including most of our allies.
Court decisions on Bagram detainees
We all are aware that war leads to difficult situations. In regard to detainees, we've seen terrorists released only to strike again. Yet in the interest of justice we are concerned about detaining potentially innocent people. Difficult times, difficult answers. In summary, some detainees at Bagram are trying to use American courts to chisel their way out.
Last year, a group of people were…
Detainees barred from access to U.S. courts
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that three men who had been detained by the United States military for years without trial in Afghanistan had no recourse to American courts. The decision was a broad victory for the Obama administration in its efforts to hold terrorism suspects overseas for indefinite periods without judicial oversight.
The detainees, two Yemenis and a Tunisian…
DOJ vindicates Rivkin after Times Square attack
BP Confident It Can Contain Gushing Oil; Sole Survivor of Libyan Plane Crash Shielded From Media
Aired May 16, 2010 - 06:00 ET on CNN
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad was interrogated for four hours before being told he had the right to remain silent, his Miranda rights. Anything he said up to…
Civilian trial for 9/11 suspects should be off the table
Published in the LATimes: May 10, 2010 By: David B. Rivkin Jr. and Vincent J. Vitkowsky
In a recent hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said that a civilian trial in New York City for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other accused 9/11 plotters was still “not off the table.” This is unfortunate, and not only because such a trial would inevitably compromise classified information, impose massive security and logistical costs on New York,…
Legal challenges to the new health care law
Under a storm of controversy and additional “fixes” to healthcare reform, President Obama finally signed the highly contested health care bill into law. At least 14 States have filed suits challenging the constitutionality of the new Health Care Law. Lawyer2Lawyer host, J. Craig Williams, and guest co-host,David E. Frank welcome Lanny J. Davis, partner in the law firm of
The American terrorist Obama wants to kill
Anwar al-Awlaki is an American citizen, born in New Mexico. He is best known as a radical imam who preaches jihad and celebrates violent Islamic extremism…
Transcript of David Rivkin's appearance on The Journal Editorial Report (April 3)
Paul Gigot: Obamacare may have passed, but the battle is far from over. Led by Bill McCollum of Florida, attorneys general from more than a dozen states have filed suit in federal court, challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare overhaul. Attorney David Rivkin has signed on as outside council to several states that are party to the lawsuit. He joins me now from Washington. David Rivkin, welcome.
David Rivkin: Good to be with you, Paul.
PG: Okay, so the health care bill mandates that all individuals in America will ultimately have to buy a government-sanctioned insurance policy. The states say this is unconstitutional.…
Transcript of David Rivkin's appearance on PBS' NewsHour (April 1)
Rivkin transcript from PBS NewsHour
Airdate: Thursday, April 1, 2010
Host: You believe it’s unconstitutional to require people to buy insurance. Why?
David Rivkin: It’s unconstitutional both as a matter of fundamental principle and relevant case law. The key aspect of our constitutional architecture is that the federal government is a government of limited and enumerated powers. The point was made by James Madison in Federalist Papers which said that the powers of federal government are few and well-defined, the powers retained by the states are numerous and indefinite.
If you have an infinitely broad commerce clause,…
States file suits against health care law
(Source: ABCNews.com. By ARIANE de VOGUE and DEVIN DWYER)
At least 14 states challenge constitutionality of health care law.
The ink on President Obama's signature was barely dry when attorneys general in 14 states filed papers in federal court today challenging the constitutionality of the newly signed health care bill.
"We are convinced that this legislation is fundamentally flawed as a matter of constitutional law, that it exceeds the scope of proper constitutional authority of the federal government and tramples upon the rights and prerogatives of states and their citizens," David Rivkin, Jr., an…
