Foreign Intelligence (FI) law as a field is marked by a complex statutory and regulatory framing. Increasingly, it is coming into play in ordinary Article III courts in the United States, as well as in European courts overseas. Simultaneously, new and emerging technologies present fundamental challenges to the traditional FI collection paradigms. This course, accordingly, provides students already broadly familiar with the contours of the national security infrastructure and foreign intelligence collection with the opportunity to do a deep dive with a particular eye towards ways in which technology alters threat vectors and presents new opportunities, and risks, to the foreign intelligence regime.

It begins with the constitutional framing and historical background undergirding the introduction of statutory and regulatory measures. The course then dissects the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and its expansion in 1994 to incorporate physical search and again in 1998 to include the use of pen register and trap and trace devices, as well as certain business records. The attacks of 9/11 led to additional changes, with further alterations implemented by the 2008 FISA Amendments Act. Discussion centers on targeting, querying, and minimization procedures adopted by the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Counterterrorism Center, as well as reports detailing use of FISA.

The course next turns to new technologies that have fundamentally shifted the type of information available to the intelligence community (IC). Special emphasis is given to technologies of import for metadata: social network analytics and algorithmic sciences. It looks at how these technologies mesh with the legal analysis, with particular attention paid to FISA sections 215 and 702.

The course then addresses Executive Order 12333, delving into the associated DoD Directives, Instructions, Manuals, and Annexes; Attorney General Guidelines; CIA Regulations and Directives; and parallel regulatory and policy documents throughout the IC. With the advent of the Internet of Things, next generation social media, 6G networks, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the landscape is about to again shift. Accordingly, the course will further address new and emerging technologies, looking at how they fit – or fail to fit – current law.

The course ends with a unit focused on doctrinal developments (specialized Article III courts, geographic Article III courts, and European tribunals), as well as Article II deliberations introduced via Executive Order in autumn 2022.

Over the past decade, the practice of "National Security Law" as its own discipline in private practice has emerged, partially as a response to market demand for assistance with national security-related agencies, regulations, and issues, and partially as a realignment of several different areas of law into one holistic practice that benefits from cross-sectoral and cross-regulatory experience. (The relevant areas of law include government contracting, international trade, data privacy and security, telecommunications, transactional matters involving foreign direct investment, and other related issues.) This class is designed to prepare students to succeed as national security law practitioners by creating opportunities to develop skills relevant to the various stages of relevant matters, including counseling, investigations, administrative advocacy, and litigation. We will simulate the roles of law firm associate, law firm partner, law clerk, and judge through oral presentations and substantial writing projects (which may be used to develop writing samples suitable for applying to clerkships or other roles). Students will also learn to edit their own work and the work of others. Class format will vary week-to-week and include practice simulations, guest speakers, and seminar-style discussions.

Each student will complete three primary assignments:

• A memorandum or similar piece of writing for counseling (~10 pages)
• A motion, brief, or similar piece of advocacy writing (section) (~15 pages)
• Oral presentation related to the second writing assignment (~7 minutes)

Learning Objectives:

• Improve legal writing and research skills through “real world” applications of national security law topics.
• Develop a deeper understanding of the structure and function of legal advice or legal arguments.
• Practice techniques to more effectively edit and critique one’s own writing.
• Produce 1-2 pieces of writing that could be used as writing samples.

This course will examine how sovereign States apply the law of sea, other international and domestic laws, and oceans policy to issues affecting national security. Foundational provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to include baselines, maritime zones, transit regimes, flag and port State control of activities aboard ships, marine environmental protection and access to seaborne resources, and military uses of the sea, will be explored through case studies and hypotheticals. Students will examine how the substance, structure, and practice of the developing law of the sea intersects with other international legal principles and regimes, such as territorial sovereignty and the law of armed conflict, and with domestic and international laws and policies concerning space, cyberspace, electronic warfare, and intelligence collection and sharing. Students will assess the various mechanisms States have implemented to avoid dangerous incidents at sea, seek peaceful resolutions to maritime disputes, and combat illegal seaborne activities. From Great Power Competition to Pacific Island Nation food security, from countering nuclear proliferation to humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, students will explore how the law of the sea is both shaped by and shapes States’ responses to national security challenges.

Learning Objectives:

Students will:

• Exhibit an understanding of the history, foundational provisions, and differing interpretations of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• Gain an understanding of how law of the sea and oceans policy interrelates with current national security issues.
• Develop the skill to apply the law of the sea, other international and domestic laws, and oceans policy to national security challenges and effectively communicate opinions and analysis to senior national security leaders.

This two-credit course provides students with an appreciation of the legal, ethical, and technical issues raised by the proliferation of artificial intelligence in the field of national security. The focus of the course is to enable students as lawyers, leaders, and policymakers to grapple with these issues by giving them an understanding of how artificial intelligence operates; its potential and likely use in different national security settings; and how each use raises distinctive legal and ethical questions involving predictability, trustworthiness, responsibility, and accountability. The course will use examples and case studies to illustrate these issues, as well as videos to depict some of the technical aspects of artificial intelligence.

The specific learning objectives for the course are for students to understand the following:

(1) How artificial intelligence operates, including the concept of an algorithm, how it is trained on data, the statistical models that underlie this training and the basis for its outputs, machine learning, deep learning and neural networks, and the ways in which human choices and interactions shape this process. No technical background in statistics or computer science is necessary, since the goal is to explain these concepts in accessible terms.

(2)  Artificial intelligence as a system involving human-machine teaming, the roles that each member of the team potentially plays at different points in the process, and the concept of trustworthy artificial intelligence.

(3) The role that artificial intelligence is playing in the national security field, its capabilities and potential applications to specific areas, and the extent to which global competition to employ and refine artificial intelligence is itself a national security issue.

(4) Limitations and risks of artificial intelligence, and possible ways to address them.

Assessment will be based on paper of 3,000 words (about 12 doubled-spaced pages) discussing a legal, ethical, or technological issue relevant to the course.

This seminar deals with the distribution of powers between the president and Congress in the areas of war, diplomacy, international organizations, foreign assistance, commerce, money, etc. as well as the distribution of powers between the national and state governments. Such related matters as the impact on individual rights and the political question doctrine in this context are also discussed.

Corporate National Security Law explores important legal issues arising out of the U.S. government’s reliance on the private sector for its national security, and the increasing convergence and conflict between national security, technology, and the private sector. The course will focus on: (1) privatization and insourcing/outsourcing issues for the U.S. government in the national security arena; (2) government contracts issues in the national security sphere; (3) export controls; (4) classified information and secrecy issues; and (5) emerging issues at the intersection of national security, technology, and the private sector. 

This seminar will examine legal and policy issues related to cybersecurity -- that is, hacking and other intrusions on global computer and communications networks. The primary focus will be the national security implications of cybersecurity and the current challenges that senior lawyers, policymakers, and the private sector face in addressing those issues.  The course will look at international and U.S. domestic law and will examine cyber issues both from the perspective of (1) the U.S. government entities that seek to use cyber tools to further military and other national security aims, and (2) the many government and private sector actors who must defend against the use of these tools use by others.  The goal of the course is to introduce students to the complex legal and policy issues that senior national security decision-makers must address and to provide insight into the practical challenges they present.  The focus of the class is law and policy, not technology.  You do not need a technical background to take the course.

This class will focus on the laws, standards and liabilities that govern cybersecurity. The course will examine cyber threats and risks such as ransomware/extortion, destructive malware, critical infrastructure attacks, personal data breaches, email account take-overs, exfiltration of proprietary data and intellectual property, exploitation of software and internet hardware vulnerabilities, insider threats, malicious and defensive use of artificial intelligence, and state-sponsored cyberattacks. 

Students will examine the roles of various government agencies such as the White House, FBI, DOJ, NSA, HHS, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commerce Department, Treasury Department, the intelligence community, financial regulators, and their respective international counterparts, etc. 

The roles of boards of directors and corporate governance will also be explored. Readings will include a broad range of cybersecurity laws and regulations, executive orders, judicial decisions, enforcement actions and settlements, government and expert reports, agency guidance, corporate filings, and news articles. Current cyber developments will be discussed regularly, and students will be expected to participate actively. 

This seminar will serve as an advanced LL.M. and J.D. seminar covering topics in cybersecurity, data privacy, and surveillance law and policy, with a focus on national security, military, and international current and emerging issues. The seminar will also include a significant intelligence law and policy component as it relates to current U.S. legal and policy debates surrounding nation state cyberspace activities and government access, collection, and use of commercial and public data. Throughout the course, students will examine foundational U.S. law and policy in these related legal fields, as well as evolving digital technologies, the digital threat landscape, domestic cybersecurity issues, government interagency roles in safeguarding our digital world, and congressional oversight of government activities in cyberspace.

 This seminar is designed to provide an overview of the threat posed by domestic violent extremism (DVE) and the complex legal and policy issues raised by efforts to counter the threat.  Although not a new threat, in recent years domestic violent extremists increasingly have organized themselves into paramilitary units, committed racially and politically motivated violence, intimidated people seeking to exercise their constitutional rights, and threatened government officials fulfilling their responsibilities.  The increased threat on one side of the political spectrum has at times prompted corresponding threats from the opposing side.

Addressing domestic violent extremism raises a host of complex questions relating to law enforcement, national security, constitutional rights, and the appropriate scope of counterterrorism operations.  This course will introduce students to these issues, enhance their ability to engage in rigorous analysis of them, and enable them to formulate practical responses consistent with the rule of law and in respect of civil rights and civil liberties.  This analysis will be informed by an understanding of the history, nature, and sources of DVE, as well as the organizational and associational structures that it may take.

The learning objectives for this course are for students to:

(1) Become familiar with the history, nature, sources, and structure of DVE in the United States and its global connections;

(2) Understand and be able to analyze the wide range of constitutional issues that policymakers and lawyers must assess in attempting to address DVE;

(3) Understand and be able to analyze the statutory and common law legal considerations that are relevant in addressing DVE;

(4) Appreciate the policy considerations that should inform analysis of DVE; and

(5) Formulate potential responses to DVE at the federal, state, and local level that appropriately weigh competing considerations based on rigorous analysis of the issues described above.

Assessment

This seminar is intended to be interactive and thought-provoking.  I expect students to have read the assigned materials before each class session and to come prepared to participate in discussion on the relevant topic.  It is likely that students will have different viewpoints on some of the topics covered, and we must all be respectful and courteous to each other, as well as to any guest speakers, during our in-class discussions.  Thirty percent of the grade will be based upon contributions to class discussions.

Seventy percent of the grade for the course will be based upon a 2,500- to 3,000-word paper analyzing a legal or policy issue related to DVE and proposing an option or options for addressing it. The paper should not be a summary of an issue or rehash the work of others, but should demonstrate thoughtful analysis and creative, legally sound proposals.

Social media is revolutionizing what we buy, who our friends are, where we work, how we game, why we vote for certain candidates, and so much more. For the first time in history, anyone with an internet connection can speak and be heard across the globe in seconds, by audiences of one to one million. Rapper Travis Scott held a metaverse concert with tens of millions of viewers, South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol generated huge campaign buzz with his charming digital avatar AI Yoon, and generative AI companies like ChatGPT and Midjourney can turn us all into Shakespeare, Taylor Swift, or Picasso (as long as they don’t try to manipulate us or take over the world). This is just the beginning—Meta is building AI that interprets brain waves, and Google has filed similar patents. Haptics allow users to physically feel feedback from digital images, integrating the experience. Such innovations will continue to transform our daily interactions, melding our digital and physical lives in ways we cannot yet fully predict. The impacts on society are profound, and yet social media is fundamentally a business. 

In most cases, a social media platform’s first loyalty is to shareholders. As social media swells, the legal frameworks lag far behind in recognizing the critical roles social media and the internet play in our lives. Courts are only now starting to tackle the thorny issues raised by social media across a variety of contexts.

This course offers an overview of social media law through the lens of its economic, policy, and national security implications. In the social media space, the realpolitik of corporate regulatory strategy collides with the pressing needs of society unlike almost anywhere else in the law. Students will leave this course able to converse about the major legal and policy issues in a practical and compelling way with anyone in the social media ecosystem—be it consumer advocates, regulators, platform leaders, entrepreneurs, financiers, engineers, or others.

How -- and with what legal capacities -- can the European Union address challenges to its foreign policy and security interests like the war in Ukraine?  How has the EU led the way globally in establishing rules for the digital economy, in areas ranging from data protection law to dominant platform services?  How is the EU adapting to major changes in the global trade and investment system, ranging from a new focus on economic security to the retreat from investor-state dispute settlement?  What legal tools can “Brussels” deploy to rein in illiberal EU member states?  What is the legal and economic relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU following Brexit?
This two-credit survey tackles these and other topics in the course of providing a comprehensive introduction to the scope and operation of the law of the European Union. The first part of the course begins by focusing on the key legal and political dimensions of European integration. We next examine the EU judiciary and its relationship to national constitutional courts, followed by consideration of the EU’s increasingly important fundamental rights and rule of law frameworks. Our examination of the EU’s foundations concludes with the EU’s singular economic and political accomplishment, the Single Market.  
In the second part, we turn to several dimensions of the EU’s extensive international reach.  We focus on its role as an international actor, for example through adoption of economic sanctions, and on EU law governing external trade and foreign investment.  Several classes take up the EU’s growing body of legislation and jurisprudence on the digital economy, most notably its leadership on data protection, data privacy and the multifaceted regulation of large digital platforms. The EU’s response to the Ukraine war, and its expanding role in the security and defense area, is also considered.  Topical political, economic and institutional developments are addressed throughout the term.

The course has no prerequisites. International Law or related courses may be useful at the margins. 

Learning Objectives:

• Recognizing and appreciating the legal fundamentals and doctrines that underpin the European Union, the historical and current context in which European integration has evolved, and the nature of the relationship between EU institutions and Member States.
• Understanding general structure and specific instruments of EU primary and secondary law, in particular the text of essential articles in the EU Treaties, as well as gaining facility in identifying and working with a variety of EU law source materials.
• Connecting and applying legal understandings to current/ongoing political developments involving the EU, member states and third countries, including by producing a professional-caliber legal research memorandum on an EU law topic of personal interest or selected from a list provided by the instructors.

This course will explore foreign direct investment in the United States from the national security perspective through an analysis of the Executive Branch inter-agency body known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).  Students will review the evolution of CFIUS from the Exon-Florio amendment, to the Committee as it exists today, including, but not limited to, the relevant authorities, policy implications, case law, and transactional risk analysis frameworks upon which CFIUS.  The course will also examine current events in the national security space to determine how those events have informed recent legislative action taken by Congress with respect to CFIUS and how those legislative changes are implemented by the committee in regulation.

This is an advanced course on constitutional principles bearing on U.S. foreign relations: primarily, separation of powers, federalism and judicial review of Executive acts and Congressional legislation. It focuses on some of the most challenging issues that have divided the American polity from the inception of the Republic and continue to do so today, e.g., the allocation of foreign affairs power between the Executive and Congress; the scope of Presidential power to protect the nation in times of danger; and the proper role of the courts in deciding legal issues relating to national security.  We will study historical materials that inform the legal arguments on both sides of current controversies over Presidential and Congressional power and discuss foreign relations issues under judicial review in 2024. We also study the power to make treaties and executive agreements, the Supremacy clause and application of customary international law by U.S. courts.

This course examines how the United States increasingly relies on two committees to assess risks to national security arising from foreign investment in the United States and foreign participation in U.S. telecommunications. Specifically, this course provides students the opportunity to compare and contrast the assessment processes established by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (Team Telecom). To establish a foundation, students will consider the history of CFIUS and Team Telecom since the millennium and examine how successive administrations and Congress have shaped foreign risk reviews, which have dramatically increased in frequency, gravity, and complexity with greater public visibility. Students will assess how CFIUS and Team Telecom reviews fit within the broader U.S. national security strategy and will consider the increasingly prevalent view that economic security is national security. Students will learn that although national security priorities vary from administration to administration, bipartisan attention has continued to focus on risks related to foreign investment in the United States, particularly regarding the development of critical technologies (e.g., microelectronics, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing among others). Throughout this course, students will be encouraged to consider how the government balances the benefits of foreign investment and participation, including promotion of economic growth, productivity, competitiveness, and job promotion, while protecting national security.

In recent years, the U.S. has developed a comprehensive policy framework that recognizes gender equality as a pillar of U.S. foreign policy and international law. This class will introduce and analyze these policies, including the U.S. National Security Strategy; Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017; U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally; U.S. Strategy on Women’s Economic Security; State Department and USAID policy guidance on gender. We will examine the legal basis for women's human rights, as well as the body of evidence linking women's advancement to development, prosperity, and stability. Issues covered will include gender and economic growth, peace and security, political participation, development, gender-based violence, and international institutions and treaties. This class will feature prominent guest speakers in the field.

Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, the spread of misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the threat of deep fakes have all increased government – and public – attention on the national security threats posed by both state and non-state actors' use of information and disinformation. Whether referred to as propaganda, psychological operations, influence operations, or information warfare, states have long used the information domain to further their national interests.
While these activities are not new, cyber capabilities and modern communications technologies have increased both their reach and effectiveness. The use of data to micro-target audiences via social media, leveraging hacked and leaked information, the dissemination of non- and misattributed messages to a mass audience, and the potential use of deep fakes all challenge current policy approaches and existing legal norms. This class will examine the U.S. domestic legal and policy issues, as well as the International legal issues, arising from the use of information and disinformation as an instrument of national power.
Learning Objectives
The learning objectives for the course are for students to:

1. Become familiar with how states use information as an instrument of national power, to include past use of propaganda and modern use of disinformation.
2. Appreciate how cyber capabilities have transformed the use of information by States, and the increased threats to national security posed by these activities.
3. Gain an understanding of the domestic and international law governing state informational activities, including the limitations faced by the U.S. Government imposed by the Constitution and U.S. federal law.
4. Understand the role of, and rules applicable to, private actors in monitoring and controlling online communication.
5. Understand how to analyze the different information activities and the applicable legal regimes.

This course teaches international law by focusing on two bodies of law and how they protect the basic human rights to life and to liberty.  These are international human rights law and international law governing the use of military force, which regulate the use of force in very different ways. After we engage in an in-depth analysis of each of these bodies of law, we will examine how well they are suited to protect life and liberty from the forms of violence that are most common in the modern world.

Governments provide protection against threats to human rights, but also themselves may pose such threats.  Law therefore must both enable states to protect human rights and prevent states from violating them.  Relevant to our course, states have an obligation under human rights law to protect individuals from violation of their rights to life and liberty by other individuals and groups. Human rights law also, however, limits how far government may go in infringing rights to life and liberty when fulfilling this obligation. 

States also have a responsibility under human rights law to protect their populations from serious threats to life and liberty by other states, and by large nonstate armed groups. What we think of as national security law regulates when and how countries may use military force to infringe these rights when fulfilling this obligation. The domestic law component of this body of law regulates when the government has authority under its own laws to invoke national security power when using force. The international law of war governs when the state has authority to use military force under international law, and how a state may use such force when it does so.

As this course will illustrate, the international regulatory framework for protecting life and liberty was designed for a world in which threats to life and liberty arose from either private individuals or small groups on the one hand, or other countries on the other. In this world, police provide protection against the first threat, and international human rights law governs how far they may infringe on life and liberty to do so. The military provides protection against the second threat, and the international law of war governs how far it may infringe on life and liberty in meeting this obligation.

In recent years, however, most serious hostilities have been between countries and large nonstate organized armed groups.  When a threat by private persons should be addressed under human rights law, and when it becomes so significant that it should be addressed under the law of war, therefore has become a source of significant controversy. This course will provide you with a foundation in the basic principles of international law, international human rights law, and the domestic and international law governing the use of military force, with the goal of equipping you to analyze this pressing modern challenge.

Learning objectives for the course are for you to become familiar with:

1. basic concepts in international law, especially relating to treaties, customary law, and how international law interacts with domestic law in the United States; 
2. basic concepts in international human rights law; United Nations, European, and Latin American Conventions on human rights, and their impacts on domestic law; 
3. basic provisions of domestic and international law that deal with when states may use military force, and international law governing how such force may be used in armed conflict; and 
4. based on your understanding of the subjects described above, for you to appreciate how many modern threats to life and liberty present challenges that do not fall squarely within either international human rights law or the international law governing military force.  This means that you must be able to think creatively about how states can protect these rights while not infringing on them.

It is important for you to have opportunities to assess and reinforce your understanding of the material as we move through the course, rather than waiting until the final exam at the end of the semester.  We therefore will have review sessions in classes 10, 17, and 24 that will give you an opportunity to reinforce your understanding by analyzing scenarios that involve, respectively: (1) international law basic concepts and international human rights law; (2) the law governing authority to resort to military force; and (3) international humanitarian law, which governs conduct during armed conflict. These exercises also will give you practice in analyzing the type of scenarios that will be on the final exam

The global trade in arms is estimated to be worth at least $127 billion dollars (in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available), and has been increasing since 2015. This trade involves not only major powers such as the USA, Russia, and China but also many countries in the global North and South. It also involves a range of technologies, from light weapons and ammunition to aircraft, missiles, drone systems, weapon launchers, through intelligence, information and cyber systems. Recent human rights activism and investigative journalism have drawn public attention to the devastating human rights implications of the trade in what are deemed “conventional” arms. Civil society actors decry the fact that small arms and light weapons have caused the death of millions of individuals in civil wars in the last two decades. Yemeni and European human rights lawyers have initiated legal proceedings against European corporations for complicity with war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen with weapons purchased in Europe. Seventeen news organizations joined hands with Amnesty International to investigate Israeli spyware Pegasus, revealing how it has provided authoritarian rulers with the means to surveil their populations and concentrate power.

Indeed, beyond the taking of life, the arms purchased legally by states around the world directly and indirectly harm a wide range of human rights protected in international law, including health, liberty, privacy, free speech and association, and religious freedom. In this course we will explore how international law regulates the global arms trade, focusing on the place of human rights considerations in this regulation. This international regulation is fractured. While weapons of mass destruction and weapons deemed particularly cruel or destructive are subject to specific bans or stringent transfer restrictions, the trade in the bulk of conventional weapons is subject to norms deriving from international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international human rights law, international trade law, non-binding multilateral regimes coordinating export controls, and binding and non-binding rules on business and human rights. After an introduction to the history, trends and political science of the global arms trade, we will discuss the above legal norms and their enforcement mechanisms. In addition to legal sources such as treaties and case-law, we will read scholarship in international law and international relations critically assessing the law from a human rights perspective. The course’s overarching aim is to understand whether international law limits the global arms trade’s harms to human rights, or to the contrary facilitates them. In the process, by examining how various subfields of international law address the arms trade, we will explore the relative strengths and weaknesses of these subfields to protect human rights, of formally binding rules and soft law, and of regulation targeting states, individuals and corporations.   

Learning Objectives:

The main learning objective is for students to understand the various international norms regulating the arms trade, including the emerging body of scholarly literature in international law and international relations discussing those norms. Until recently, the international regulation of the conventional arms trade was severely under-studied and under-researched. The course will introduce students to the principal scholars in the field, enabling them to continue researching these issues should they wish to do so in the future. This course will also introduce students to the global arms trade, its main economic and geo-political characteristics, and its human rights implications. They will also learn about the main sources of reliable information about this trade.

More broadly, through discussions in class drawing on legal and international relations literature, the course aims to help students develop critical perspectives on international law, in particular on questions of norm fragmentation, norm enforcement, North-South relations, and the relations between humanitarian and economic considerations. By focusing on a narrow question (the human rights implications of the arms trade) and examining how it is addressed in various subfields of international law, the students will also develop a comparative perspective on these subfields, and hopefully reach new understandings on some of the characteristics, and strengths and weaknesses of each.

Pearl Harbor fundamentally changed Americans’ sense of security. Together with an existential threat in the form of the Cold War, national security institutions rapidly proliferated. Many focused on the collection of foreign intelligence, with the result that by the 1970s, numerous entities were engaged in collecting information on U.S. citizens. Congress responded by passing the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and creating specialized courts to oversee applications for electronic surveillance. Simultaneously, the Executive Branch issued an Executive Order to provide guidelines for all other intelligence activities. Today, FISA, together with Executive Order 12333, provides a framing for the collection of foreign intelligence. Additional instruments, such as National Security Letters, Administrative Subpoenas, and Sneak and Peak Warrants, play a further role in anticipating and responding to threats.

This course, designed for students new to foreign intelligence collection, provides an overview of the key constitutional questions and jurisprudential distinctions. It addresses the statutory and regulatory framework for classified national security information and nuclear-related materials as well as institutional arrangements that comprise the intelligence community. The course then addresses different tools available to the government to obtain information, before addressing some of the most difficult and timely FI questions.

As a rule, investigating and prosecuting cybercrime is fraught with challenges. Ephemeral electronic evidence, international evidence-gathering obstacles, and anonymizing technologies can frustrate conventional law enforcement investigative techniques. Recently, distinctions between traditional cybercrimes and crimes committed by foreign actors with national security objectives have eroded, creating new investigative challenges: cybercriminals and national security cyber actors now both steal information for personal financial gain; nation-states have reportedly enlisted criminal organizations to act as their proxies to conduct cyber attacks against United States companies; and the tradecraft used by some nation-state actors includes tools and tactics commonly used by cybercriminals, such as botnets and ransomware. The intersection between conventional cybercrimes and national security crimes with a cyber nexus raises novel legal and policy questions involving the extraterritoriality of criminal statutes, the application of international data privacy regulations, and the boundaries of international legal cooperation. Furthermore, the burgeoning role of private actors in data breach response and cyber threat intelligence gathering are altering how cyber offenses are investigated.

This course will take a practical look at how U.S. federal law enforcement pursues investigations and prosecutions of sophisticated cyber threat actors using investigative and prosecutorial criminal tools that at times are augmented by national security authorities. It will furnish a background in criminal statutes that are the bedrock of electronic evidence gathering (e.g., the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq.; the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.; and the Pen Register/Trap and Trace Act, 18 U.S.C. §  3121 et seq.); the substantive laws used to indict cyber actors (e.g., the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030); the constitutional questions raised by surveillance techniques used to gather domestic evidence against international actors; and national security issues that prosecutors confront when handling hybrid criminal cases (e.g., discovery issues associated with the use of national security authorities). Students in this class will learn how a federal case against transnational cybercriminals and national security cyber actors is built and the legal landmines that can surface while gathering evidence in "cyberspace."

No technical background is required to take this course, but you will be taught the basics of Internet technology to better understand how technology affects the application of certain criminal laws.

This seminar addresses modern military weapons – their development, acquisition, proliferation, use, control, and elimination – considering a set of problems that will raise the most difficult security concerns for the United States and the rest of the world in the post-cold-war era. In the seminar, we will explore a wide range of weapons technologies--including nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional armaments--and the political and legal mechanisms that constrain them. The seminar will address historical allegations concerning the dissemination and use of these weapons; the rise and fall of various strategic doctrines; the bureaucratic processes of government decision making; and the evaluation of relevant ethical considerations surrounding possession and use. The bulk of the seminar will focus on contemporary legal and political issues such as ongoing treaty negotiations, export controls, verification of compliance, enforcement of treaty commitments, and the dismantling of redundant weaponry. The seminar is particularly recommended for those interested in exploring careers in public international law, but will also be relevant to others interested in the role of the lawyer in influencing United States public policy more generally. Each student will prepare a substantial original research paper and participate in small exercises designed to provide some simulated experience in characteristic legal tasks, such as drafting, analyzing, briefing, etc.

This course will build on the substantive issues covered in the Fall semester by introducing students who are interested in pursuing a career in national security law to the field from both a substantive and practical perspective. The goal will be to provide a foundation for students to make an informed career decision and prepare them with the practical knowledge they will need to succeed in the field.

Students will be exposed to the various potential career paths through presentations by faculty and practitioners. National security law is practiced in traditional hard security sectors, such as by military service members or civilians at the Defense Department or Department of State. However, national security can also be practiced by lawyers all across U.S. government agencies, including Department of Treasury, Commerce, and Justice or in the legislative branch. National security law is also practiced by lawyers in the private sector, from the non-profit sector doing policy analysis to law firms which focus on national security regulations. Introducing students to these career paths, through presentations or with field experience if possible, will be complemented through an informal mentorship program to guide second-year law students through internship and entry-level legal career application navigation.

The course will meet once every two weeks in two-hour classes for a total of seven classes. This course is only open to first year National Security Law Specialization Program students with professor permission.

Learning Objectives:

The learning objectives for the course are for students to:

1. Gain an understanding of how to prepare for a career in national security law.
2. Discuss and contemplate what type of issues arise in the national security law practice area.
3. Learn about the various career choices available to them and connect with fellow upper-class students, Georgetown faculty, and practitioners to further hone their interests.

This seminar will address the relationship between courts-martial and civilian judicial proceedings, focusing on the allocation of responsibilities in the military justice system to commanders, judges, and lawyers. Specific topics will include the contemporary debates regarding sexual misconduct and combat-related offenses. The assigned readings will utilize materials available on the internet, including judicial decisions, legislative and regulatory materials, and law review articles. The seminar paper will take the form of a draft judicial opinion based upon topics covered in the course. The seminar is designed for students interested in national security, judicial review, and the constitutional allocation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key features of military legal practice, the distinctions between military and civilian jurisprudence, and the primary factors considered by Article III courts in reviewing cases arising in the military justice system.
• Assess the impact of congressional legislation and oversight, as well as the role of the President in the military justice system.
• Enhance research skills through analysis of briefs and source materials.
• Enhance writing skills by preparing a judicial opinion.

Surveys the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and customary international law as applied by the United States in warfare. From where does LOAC arise? What is a war crime – and who decides? What is “unnecessary suffering,” and what drives that legal determination? When does LOAC apply and what role do other rules of law, such as domestic U.S. law and International Human Rights Law play in regulating the conduct of armed conflict? Does it cover non-state actors? What are U.S. LOAC obligations, and how are they enforced? How does one distinguish illegal combatants from prisoners of war? Where do military commissions come from, and who may be tried by them? Could the atomic bombing of Nagasaki have been a war crime? Can a superior’s order constitute a defense to war crime charges? What is the U.S. position in regard to laser weapons? Land mines? Non-lethal weapons? Torture? Rendition? Reprisals? The assassination of enemy commanders? What is an illegal order, and what should a soldier do if she receives one? How may battlefield war crimes be prosecuted? Our inquiry will focus on the law applicable to the conduct of U.S. military operations in past and current conflicts, whether or not they be declared, whether they be internal or international. Although primarily focused on the law of land warfare, the law of air and naval warfare, as well as space and information warfare, will be considered.

Learning objectives:

To gain a firm understanding of the law of armed conflict and to consider, through discussion of practical exercise from the textbook, how the law is applied in an operational context.

This course reviews the basic principles of international law related to the many exclusive and inclusive uses of ocean space, especially on those critical issues affecting U.S. national security. Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of the legal regimes governing the ocean, from internal waters and other coastal zones through the regimes of the high seas, and an overall appreciation for U.S. ocean law and policy, based on relevant principles of international and national law. Topics include navigation and overflight rights, living and non-living ocean resources, military and law-enforcement activities, protecting the marine environment, marine scientific research, the law of naval warfare, and the formal and informal processes for developing ocean policy and for resolving international disputes. Students will research and engage in class discussions on a number of problems involving national security issues and the use of ocean space, including resources on the continental shelf, maritime terrorism, military exercises, maritime transportation systems, at-sea trafficking in illicit drugs, piracy, weapons of mass destruction, collection of intelligence, and naval rules of engagement.

The rapid pace of technology presents tremendous opportunities as well as risks for U.S. national security. It also generates a certain amount of grey area as statutory and regulatory provisions fall behind the tech curve. It is not at all clear how existing doctrinal, statutory, and regulatory regimes apply to phenomena like the metaverse, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, and biomanipulation. This course, accordingly, tackles the interstices between law and tech, particularly as it presents in the online world. Part I lays a groundwork to ensure that students who do not come from either a national security or tech-intensive background have a firm understanding of constitutional doctrine, institutional delineation, and the basics of Ethernet and WiFi; IP Addresses, Protocols, and Routing; and circuit and packet switched networks. Part II shifts to analysis of online communications, storage, and computing. In conjunction with a deep dive on fourth amendment interception and third party doctrine, the course examines the enterprise network environment and cloud computing. It then moves into decryption and quantum computing, taking these in conjunction with the All Writs Act and covert action requirements. Part III focuses on network analytics. It emphasizes algorithmic sciences, data structures, sorting and searching, and artificial intelligence. The corresponding legal analysis centers on first amendment doctrine and social media platform practices, exploring how efforts to come to grips with misinformation and online manipulation have faltered in the face of first amendment considerations. Part IV focuses on online gaming technologies, addressing in the process blockchain and cryptocurrency and ways in which technology design and data collection is now enabling biomanipulation. The legal analysis engages, inter alia, the law of armed conflict. The course ends with a gaming lab, where students will have the opportunity to go online using haptic gaming equipment to deepen their understanding of legal challenges presented by the online world.

The struggle to respect and ensure human rights while also protecting national security raises important and complex legal and policy challenges. This course will examine current issues at the intersection of human rights and national security, with a focus on the use of force.

The first half of the course will cover the legal frameworks governing the use of force, including the UN Charter and jus ad bellum, the law of armed conflict (also known as the law of war or international humanitarian law), human rights law, and the U.S. Constitution. Students will examine how the rise of transnational terrorist organizations and advancements in armed drone technology have blurred the line between wartime and peacetime legal rules and placed tremendous pressure on these legal frameworks in the decades following the 9/11 attacks. By the end of this portion of the course, students will be able to analyze uses of military force in the daily news to determine whether the use of force is lawful under domestic and international law.

The second half of the course will cover key issues at the intersection of national security and human rights including: U.S. drone strikes, indefinite detention and the use of military commissions at Guantanamo, the CIA’s torture program after 9/11, the climate crisis, and more. Where feasible, we will cover current events and have practitioners from the field join us for a discussion of the topic. In past years, we have had speakers from the State Department, Defense Department, Congress, and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First.

Student learning objectives for the course are to use class sessions and the preparation of a paper:

• To become familiar with basic human rights standards that govern the use of force in law enforcement settings, with particular emphasis on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights;
• To become familiar with basic international law standards that govern the grounds for resort to force (jus ad bellum) and regulate the way force may be used in armed conflicts (jus in bello or law of armed conflict/international humanitarian law);
• To gain an appreciation of the complex ways in which many current security threats and responses to them have features that do not fall squarely into the categories of either crime subject to law enforcement operations or armed conflict subject to conventional military operations; and
• To become familiar with a range of complex issues at the intersection of national security and human rights and the diversity of professional opportunities in these areas.

This seminar will look at the president’s authorities in the areas of national security and foreign relations, how the exercise of presidential powers in this area has developed and how it is constrained. The course will explore the historical and doctrinal foundations of presidential national security authorities, as well as more recent practices and controversies. A particular focus will be the how executive branch lawyers have grappled with these issues and the many conflicting demands and challenges they face. The course will look at issues such as the separation of powers framework, constitutional war and foreign affairs powers, constitutional and statutory emergency powers and their impact on civil liberties, intelligence authorities, and authorities related to the classification and control of sensitive information. Regularly throughout the semester the students will be asked to discuss case studies and to focus on how some of these issues have been – or should have been – handled by executive branch lawyers. 

Learning Objectives: The course learning objectives are to deepen students’ understanding of  the President’s national security authorities, how they have developed, how they are used and constrained, and the practicalities of providing legal advice on these issues. The goal is for students to come away from the course not only understanding these issues, which have significant current relevance, but appreciating of the challenges of practicing in this area and how lawyers might navigate those challenges.

This class will address the law governing national security investigations and related litigation. Topics will include foundational legal authorities, electronic surveillance, national security letters, and the differences between Article III courts and military commissions. National security law is often inaccessible, and can be particularly hard to follow when divorced from the context of historical tradition, governmental structures, and the operational reality in which it functions. While steering clear of classified or confidential aspects of the practice, the class will attempt to present the law in context. Class participation and three short papers are required.

This introductory, survey course will explore national security law as developed from the U.S. Constitution, relevant federal statutes, case law, and historical experience, as well as from principles and influences of international law and foreign relations.  It will cover key components of, and debates over, the Federal Government’s exercise of national security authorities, including: decisions to use force and how to employ it; detention and interrogation of combatants; collection, protection, and sharing of intelligence; military and civilian prosecutions for national security-related criminal charges, including terrorism, espionage, export control, and state-sponsored cybercrimes; civil litigation involving national security interests and concerns; protection of homeland security; and economic aspects of national security policy. Themes of the course will include: (1) the separation of powers among the three branches of the Federal Government, and appropriate roles for these branches in the conduct of national security activities; (2) the interplay between international law and domestic law; (3) textual, historical, and functional modes of legal argument as applied to national security issues; and (4) the evolution of modern warfare and its implications for relevant legal regimes. 

Course Goals/Student Learning Outcomes:

This course will provide students with exposure to the broad reach of modern national security law in the United States, and the many as-yet unresolved and knotty legal, policy, practical, and moral issues that arise as the Government strives to protect national security, while preserving the generally free and open society that most U.S. persons expect.  Students will examine with a critical eye the justifications offered for, and scope of, security-based governmental actions, while considering practical alternatives and results.

The student learning outcomes will be the following:

1. Analyze current and emerging issues in national security law, and understand the policy arguments underlying the balance of ensuring security and protecting individual rights
2. Assess the justifications offered for, and scope of, security-based governmental actions
3. Examine the effects that national security measures have on individual rights of U.S. citizens and non-citizens, and on U.S. institutions, norms, and governance.

This course will examine the substantive, ethical, moral, procedural, and practical challenges of practicing national security law in the government. Government national security and foreign affairs lawyers have significant influence on operational and policy decision-making, but generally encounter fewer external checks and less oversight than lawyers in other areas. Because of threshold doctrines such as standing and political question, courts address national security legal questions relatively rarely. There are few timely, formal checks in the area of international law, which develops over time and by consensus and often lacks a direct enforcement mechanism. In addition, much of the subject matter about which national security lawyers provide advice is classified, which can limit the scrutiny of legal analysis by Congress, the press, and the public. Therefore, national security lawyers, who provide advice on what are often extremely high stakes and difficult legal issues, shoulder a great deal of responsibility to carry out their roles ethically and effectively.

The course will use case studies and hypotheticals to explore these important challenges. Students will discuss a variety of issues, including: the players and process of national security legal decision-making; flexibility, constraint, and accountability for the national security lawyer; the challenges in providing balanced advice; whether and when it is appropriate to “push the envelope” on legal advice; the impact of secrecy on legal advice and decision-making; the importance of transparency about national security legal advice and why it is so difficult; prosecution, litigation, and national security; the appropriate role of lawyers and the law in the national security policymaking process; lawyering when the law is not developed; and the challenges and responsibilities of lawyering during war and other national security crises.

Students will be graded on several short reaction papers and one longer final paper. Class discussion will also be considered in grading.

This course will provide students with an understanding of the current matrix of nuclear non-proliferation treaties, multilateral arrangements, laws, regulations, initiatives, proposals, and organizations that aim to halt the spread of nuclear weapons and prevent nuclear terrorism. The goal is to examine the full array of tools employed by the United States to address nuclear proliferation, as well as how the Executive Branch brings these tools to bear through the inter-agency process and its joint efforts with Congress and international partners.  Virtually every element of the nonproliferation toolbox was deployed to address the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, so considerable time will be spent examining these critical cases.  We will also examine how the nuclear programs of India and Iraq shook and ultimately altered the nonproliferation regime.  Throughout the course, we will consider nonproliferation efforts in the context of great power strategies, alliance obligations, and regional rivalries, on how these factors influence the decision-making of proliferating countries and countries seeking to prevent proliferation.  A continuing theme in the course will be the evolution of nonproliferation tools over time and the role of and lawyers in that evolution.

Whether they are representing couples in transnational adoptions or multinational enterprises in cross-border mergers, legal practitioners increasingly are expected to consult international and foreign legal materials. This course will familiarize students with the best tools for researching international law and the domestic law of jurisdictions outside the U.S., enabling them to approach these tasks with confidence, rather than trepidation. Students will learn how to efficiently locate multilateral and bilateral treaties, decisions issued by international tribunals, documentation produced by the United Nations and other international organizations, as well as legislation and case law from selected foreign jurisdictions, including the European Union. Tools for topical research in specialized fields, such as human rights, international trade, and investor-state arbitration, also will be covered. Students will refine their information-gathering skills through a series of in-class research exercises and take-home quizzes based on real world, practice-oriented scenarios. This course will be especially beneficial for journal editors, students participating in the Jessup International Moot Court competition and other international competitions, and for students interested in pursuing careers in international law or in practicing law outside their home jurisdiction.

This course offers an understanding of social media law in the face of disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, extended reality, and blockchain.  For the first time in history, anyone with an internet connection can speak and be heard across the globe in seconds, by audiences of one to one million.  Traditionally in-person activities are going digital, as the Super Bowl held a virtual halftime show with Saweetie, and South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol generated huge campaign buzz with his avatar AI Yoon.  User-generated content is also changing, as generative AI companies like Midjourney and ChatGPT can turn you into Frida Kahlo or Shakespeare with just a written prompt.  This is only the beginning—haptics will allow users to physically feel their online interactions, while companies like Meta and Google are experimenting with AI that interprets brain waves.
In this course, we will examine these developments through a legal lens, discussing issues like Section 230, the First Amendment, antitrust, and privacy laws.  Students will also leave the course conversant in the economic and policy considerations that frame regulatory discussions in the space, including platform business models, the creator economy, and national security concerns. As social media and the internet increasingly swallow all aspects of public life, lawyers of all stripes will need to tackle the new challenges that arise. This course is an all-important first step.

In the age of social media, private companies have unprecedented power to shape and control the visibility and content of online speech.  And as government struggles to keep pace with developing technology in an age of political polarization, litigation has emerged as a key tool for questioning and challenging the role social media platforms have come to play in American society.  This course is designed to introduce students to the legal principles that have shaped the birth, growth, and dominance of social media platforms over online speech, from the First Amendment to Section 230.  It will explore the history of the main players in this space and invite students to consider how different legal avenues might lead to change in this ever-developing industry.

Overview:

Never before have so many individuals had such a tremendous opportunity to access information, to engage with others, and to express their views on a global scale. Simultaneously, 24/7 online access means that actors can more easily manipulate networks, foment hatred, reach audiences poised to engage in violence, and spread false information. Platforms seemingly protected by the First Amendment, moreover, can be used to undermine and destabilize democratic systems and to radicalize and recruit adherents to violent causes. The risks to national security could be profound.

Does the government have the right to remove content from these sites? Can it require the same of private actors? What should the role of the platforms themselves be in light of the enormous political, social, and economic implications of restricting—or failing to restrict—online speech and association? What options are there for dealing with false, misleading, or manipulative information? What are the risks posed by the different courses of action? How should we think about traditional areas of the law, such as antitrust, when agreement among social media providers results in effective de-platforming of certain individuals and views? What are the privacy implications of micro-targeting and social media evolution in the advertising and marketing arena? And what happens when effective targeting is moved to a political realm?

The issue is far from static: technology is catapulting social media forward at warp speed. 5G and 6G networks will make it possible to deploy online experiences previously cabined to science fiction. A number of apps such as Snapchat, have integrated real time digital overlay features, as augmented reality (AR) blends the digital and 3-Dimensional world. Apple has deployed Quick Look AR that allows customers to “see” products in AR, interact with others, and buy the products directly. Users already can build virtual worlds, in games such as Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnight, and Second Life. Niantic is now taking it to the next level, developing what it calls full-world AR, leveraging Pokemon GO to crowdsource data to generate 3D space. Google glasses and Facebook Smart Glasses transform AR to a feature of daily 3D interaction. These devices allow companies to collect engagement metrics and to use them to further target users.

The move to virtual reality will be even more profound. Patents have been filed for collecting biopotential signals, tracking muscle and eye movements to re-create individuals’ expressions and actions in an online environment. Others allow users to feel digital images in a 3D world, integrating the experience. The recording of what is done in the VR allows users to share the experience with others, even as hardware attached to other users will be able to mimic the experiences of the original user. How should we think about brain computing and online actions in light of criminal law?

In short, how should we think about social media in light of the current constitutional, statutory, and regulatory environment?

This course begins with a deep dive into technology and the business of social media before turning to First Amendment doctrine and contemporary social media cases. It then looks at issues related to misinformation and disinformation and electoral manipulation, with a particular emphasis on Russian and Chinese practices in regard to social media.

The course mixes traditional lecture background with Socratic exchange and intense debates. Students taking it for 2 credits (either p/f or for credit) will draft 8 1-page, weekly response essays for the readings. Students taking it for 3 credits will have the opportunity to develop a longer paper with the aim of developing a law review article that could be submitted for publication. Those students will also have the chance to present their work to the class for feedback.

Learning outcomes:

As a result of taking the course, students will be able to:

• articulate the opportunities and risks presented by social media;
• ascertain ways in which online platforms challenge our traditional understanding of the First Amendment;
• analyze how criminal law provisions apply to the online environment;
• identify the privacy concerns at stake in new and emerging technologies and discuss how they fit within prominent paradigms, such as the DGPR and CalECPA;
• discuss the application of antitrust measures to deplatforming and verification regimes;
• advance a legal position, identify the strongest counter-arguments, and respond; and
• advocate ways in which the doctrine should evolve to take account of the rapidly-changing world in which we live.

This course will examine the applicable international and domestic law to State actions in cyberspace, including affirmative State actions such as intelligence collection, information warfare, and cyber effects operations; the responses by victim States and entities; and responses by private actors in the United States. The course will specifically delve into the international legal regimes pertaining to State sovereignty and the United Nations Charter; draft Articles of State responsibility and the doctrine of prohibited intervention; responsive actions under the doctrines of countermeasures, retorsion, and reprisal; and the application of the Jus-In-Bello. Additionally, the course will review current U.S. domestic law governing both actions by the U.S. government in cyberspace, whether in offense or defense, as well as limitations on response options by private entities. These legal and policy regimes will be explored through historic case studies and hypotheticals with a focus on analysis of those areas where there are competing views and interpretations. Students will assess the various legal and policy regimes through the lens of multiple actors, both States and non-States, with constantly evolving and advancing technology.

This seminar will explore several significant legal and policy concerns presented by the conduct of foreign intelligence activities in peace and war. To the extent possible we will focus on current or recent issues. We will discuss the role and history of Congress in authorizing, overseeing and regulating intelligence activities. We will also briefly review the constitutional authorities (primarily Art. II) of the President to undertake activities protecting the national defense in the absence of specific statutory authority, as well as the role of the federal courts in resolving national defense disputes.

More specifically we will discuss legal and structural issues associated with covert action, espionage, electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) and its impacts on privacy interests. We will consider the crimes of insurrection, conspiracy, and litigation issues involving the use of classified information in criminal and civil cases, including the use of secret evidence in criminal prosecutions. This discussion will include the state secrets privilege and the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). We will examine unauthorized disclosures of classified information and whistleblower protections. And finally, we will briefly discuss the role of a free press in our democracy.

The overall approach of the seminar will be to have an open analysis and interesting discussion of these and possibly other related topics. Questions are welcome and can be addressed to Prof. Dyson at dd1117@georgetown.edu.

This course will examine the security requirements for voting systems (particularly those used for civil elections in the United States), how various technology designs and implementations meet or fail to meet these requirements, and how such systems can be improved. The course will focus on the implications of various vote-casting technologies ("voting machines") as well as the "backend" election management systems and processes that define ballots, register voters, provision precinct equipment, and count and report vote tallies. While it will not be our main focus, we will also examine the interaction between modern social media and foreign and domestic influence operations aimed at affecting election outcomes.

We will devote particular attention to understanding how the legal framework and historical threat models for elections relate to specific technical requirements, how technical failures can affect election outcomes, and the limitations of various remedies when such failures occur. We will look at a range of formal and informal proposed designs for election systems, specific systems that have been or are currently in active use, and various studies that have been made of these systems and designs. The course will focus on technical security issues, but will also touch on usability, threat modeling, and legal and governance issues. 

Our primary reference will be the 2018 National Academies study "Securing the Vote" as well as readings drawn from the technical, legal, and policy literature. 

Student papers will focus on some issue at the intersection of technology and voting, depending on the specific background and interests of the student. 

Federal employees and contractors safeguard our nation’s most sensitive information and secrets. However, many do not consider that national security is a major consideration when employing civil servants or making decisions regarding their continued employment.  As of 2017, over 4.3 million Americans possess a security clearance and even more have access to sensitive, unclassified information. Security clearances and suitability reviews assess the reliability, trustworthiness, and character of prospective employees. 

Because security clearance and suitability adjudications often determine whether a person is hired - and in some cases, fired - they invoke the application of employment protections under laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. The decision to deny employment based on a security clearance or suitability decision is considered an adverse action. While some actions are subject to judicial and/or administrative court review, others are not.  Therefore, executive orders, federal regulations, and agency guidance are necessary to ensure that vetting is both thorough and fair. In the last decade, courts and agencies have grappled with issues ranging from discrimination to the stigmatization of mental health issues in security clearance and suitability adjudications.

This course will examine the intersectionality of national security issues and employment; specifically, how national security concerns shape vetting in federal employment from security clearances to suitability reviews. Moreover, it will serve as an introduction to understanding the interplay of federal case law, executive orders, federal regulations, and agency guidance in this area.