“Judicial Power, the ‘Political Question Doctrine,’ and Foreign Relations”

Michael Tigar’s Notes:

Judicial Power, the "Political Question Doctrine," and Foreign Relations," 17 U.C.L.A. L. Rev. 1135 (1970), reprinted in The Vietnam War And International Law, Vol. 3 (R. Falk, ed. 1972).  This article represented a hope that judicial power could be brought to bear against illegal war and war-related state-sponsored violence.  Charles Alan Wright liked it well enough to cite in his treatise.  The basic idea – that federal courts are ducking their duty to restrain unlawful executive branch action – is still being debated.  The good guys are not winning.

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