Discussion Description:
Can we take back the power over diplomacy from the President? Professor Jean Galbraith of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School explains how in a webinar based on Professor Galbraith’s instant classic, The Runaway Presidential Power over Diplomacy (Va. L. Rev. 2022). Professor Galbraith won the Mike Lewis Prize for National Security Law Scholarship for her insightful and elegant piece. The Mike Lewis Prize was set up by the Strauss Center at the University of Texas at Austin and Ohio Northern University’s Pettit College of Law (ONU), in consultation with the AALS Section on National Security Law, to honor Professor Mike Lewis of ONU, an esteemed colleague, scholar, and teacher who passed away before his time in 2015.
Professor Galbraith, whose scholarship has appeared in AJIL, the Michigan Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, and many other journals, explores how U.S. presidents have aggressively claimed constitutional power over diplomacy and uses of force at the expense of Congress. Professor Amy Gaudion of Penn State Dickinson Law, chair of the Section on National Security Law, will provide a welcome and introductions and Professor Peter Margulies of Roger Williams University School of Law, member of the Section’s Executive Committee, will moderate the program, including questions from the audience. We expect a lively and intriguing discussion—we hope you can join us!
2023 Mike Lewis Prize: Nominations for the 2023 Mike Lewis Prize for National Security Law Scholarship are due October 31, 2023 – for more information, click here.
View the Mike Lewis Prize Presentation Slides Here
Jean Galbraith, Professor of Law, Deputy Dean, The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Jean Galbraith is a scholar of public international law and of U.S. law as it relates to foreign affairs. Her research focuses on how legal and institutional design choices affect international cooperation and global justice. Her scholarship has been published in the American Journal of International Law, the Michigan Law Review, the NYU Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and many other journals.
One strand of Galbraith’s research explores how the United States joins, implements, and exits treaties and other international commitments. She calls for structural and doctrinal reforms that would increase the prospects for U.S. international engagement. Her research also demonstrates how, over time, U.S. presidents have increasingly claimed constitutional power over diplomacy and uses of force at the expense of Congress through expansive legal reasoning.
In other work, Galbraith studies how international institutions could operate more effectively to promote equality and justice. Her empirical research on the use of “opt in” versus “opt out” clauses in treaties provides strong evidence that behavioral design can improve international cooperation. Her paper on Ending Security Council Resolutions argues that the U.N. Security Council could reduce gridlock by making use of carefully designed termination clauses. Her recent work explores how criminal justice systems in the United States and around the world overly penalize low-income persons with fines and other financial penalties – and highlights the implications of these findings for human rights treaty bodies.
Before becoming a legal academic, Galbraith served as a law clerk for three judges: Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Theodor Meron of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She also practiced law in Philadelphia as an associate at Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard University and received her J.D. from Berkeley Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the California Law Review.
As a professor, Galbraith maintains close ties to legal practice. From 2019-2021, she litigated pro bonocases relating to excessive fines, criminal procedure, and immigration law as the co-director of Penn Carey Law’s Appellate Advocacy Clinic. She has filed briefs in the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Third Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Her co-authored amicus brief in United States v. California provided a scholarly defense of the constitutionality of California’s climate cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec after it was challenged by the Trump administration. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law, and a long-standing member of the American Society of International Law.
At Penn Carey Law, Galbraith teaches a wide range of classes, including first-year Contracts, Foreign Relations Law, Federal Courts, and upper-level seminars in international law. In 2017 and again in 2020, she received the Harvey Levin Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, which is awarded by vote of the graduating J.D. class.
Peter S. Margulies, Professor of Law, Roger Williams University School of LawAs an expert in National Security Law, Professor Peter Margulies focuses on the delicate balance between liberty, equality, and security in issues involving law and terrorism. Professor Margulies has written almost a dozen articles discussing the War on Terror. He currently works with RWU Law Professor Jared Goldstein, along with litigators from the law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, in representing two Afghan detainees. Professor Margulies led a national conference entitled “Legal Dilemmas in A Dangerous World: Law, Terrorism and National Security” held at RWU.
Professor Margulies also has an extensive background in immigration law and has represented Haitian refugees and conducted outreach to community legal service providers.
Peter Marguiles teaches Immigration Law, National Security Law and Professional Responsibility. He has filed amicus briefs in high-visibility cases with the U.S. Supreme Court and has been frequently cited in the New York Times, the National Law Journal and other media outlets.
Amy Gaudion, Associate Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson LawAmy C. Gaudion leads Dickinson Law’s national security program. Professor Gaudion established and leads an annual cyberspace working group simulation in collaboration with the U.S. Army War College. She is the author of Defending Your Country . . . and Gender – Legal Challenges and Opportunities Confronting Women in the Military, in Women, Law and Culture: Conformity, Contradiction and Conflict (Jocelynne A. Scutt ed., 2016) (Palgrave Macmillan). In addition to scholarly journals, her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Daily Beast.
Professor Gaudion has served on and moderated numerous panels examining the impact of technology on the legal frameworks governing national security and intelligence, including Cybersecurity and Data Privacy: Equifax, the VEP, and CISA; iPhone vs. the FBI: Government Surveillance in the Post-Snowden Era; The Constitutionality and Consequences of America’s Use of Drones and the NSA Spying Program; and After Bin Laden: Stuxnet, Drones and the New Middle East. She has appeared on WITF’s Smart Talk and WHYY’s Radio Times.
