In The Beginning, There Was The Price

"[W]hen humans first took stylus to wet clay, the first thing that they were compelled to record was . . . prices." (Charles Fishman, in Fast Company.) Those prices and other cultural artifacts were written down on tablets by the ancient Sumerians, who used to live right about where all the troops are. (Small wonder there's hostility toward the place; some say that's where law as we know it got its start.) You can pick up one of these tablets on eBay if you are so inclined, but best to think twice: "Bidding at auction for that tantalizing tablet puts you at risk of trafficking in hot antiquities." [via Salon]

It's Good To Be The Dean

If you agree, you have until July 1, 2003 to submit your application to become Dean of the Boalt Hall School of Law. The Office of the Chancellor has further information (PDF) about evaluation criteria and submission guidelines.

Stop That Pigeon Now

Some well timed lighter fare: Matt Round has taken the flotsam of late 20th century television, stirred well, and come up with a sidesplitting alternative to "Lorem Ipsum" for Web designers. Behold his Text Generator.

Killing Him Softly

Bernard Hibbitts at The Paper Chase is doing an excellent job discussing all sorts of legal aspects of the Iraq conflict, including assassination in his post yesterday: Target Saddam - international law on attacks against enemy leaders in wartime. (I'm also enjoying Bernard's periodic "Law blog prof-watch" updates.) Be sure too to check the comments to my last post and the links there.

What Is Banned By The Assassination Ban? (LazyBlawg)

Grant Henninger has a question about war, law and assassination: "If we kill Saddam in the first strike is it an illegal assassination or is it a legitimate action as part of the war?" On this subject, the Guardian today writes, "By declaring war, Mr Bush legitimised the apparent assassination attempt against President Saddam. In a state of war, the congressional prohibition on the assassination of leaders is lifted." Related reading: Professor Jeffrey Addicott's JURIST Forum piece last November, entitled The Yemen Attack: Illegal Assassination or Lawful Killing, and a Los Angeles Times analysis, U.S. Enters a Legal Gray Zone, reproduced at Global Policy Forum.

[Update] From a press briefing earlier today by Ari Fleischer:

Q: Ari, if the United States is at war, and if you assert that the United States has the right to target the Iraqi leader and his inner circle as part of command and control, does that make the President and the White House a legitimate target for Iraqis?

MR. FLEISCHER: Somebody — a reporter asked me that question a few weeks ago and my answer this [sic] is my answer now; you can tell anybody who wants to know the answer to that to get their own international lawyer, I won't do it for them.

Mr. Fleischer apparently was referring to his February 26, 2003 briefing: "I have no intention of becoming Saddam Hussein's international lawyer."

[Update] On September 22, 2001, Glenn Reynolds pointed to Jacob Sullum's discussion of the development and interpretation of the assassination ban ("License to Kill"), and wondered about "Assassination as Policy:" "[I]t doesn't involve killing lots of innocents, as war inevitably does, and it has a tit-for-tat quality that seems fair. [¶]What I've never seen mentioned, though, is the corrosive political effect it might have...."