Digg on 1989 SC ruling (Barr)
PANIC!
We live in troubled times, marked by deep political divisions. In such times, it is especially crucial
that our legal institutions remain anchored to sound legal principles. Our President has declared
“I have [the] absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department.”[19] Public confidence
in the rule of law depends on there being an Attorney General who will not allow the President to do
whatever he wants with the Justice Department. William Barr’s views of presidential power are so
radically mistaken that he is simply the wrong man, at the wrong time to be Attorney General of the United States.
https://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/the-barr-memo-and-the-imperial-presidency/
Source of PANIC!
Courts have long recognized that delegations of discretion involving the President’s constitutional
powers must be construed broadly, especially in matters involving foreign affairs.
As Chief Justice Marshall stated in Brown, the rule is, in its nature, flexible…It is subject to infinite modification…
It is not an immutable rule of law, but depends on political considerations which may continually vary.
The President is the ‘sole organ’ of the United States in its international relations, who is responsible
for the behavior of the United States in regard to international law, and who participates on her behalf
in the indefinable process by which customary international law is made, unmade, remade.
The content of United States law, according to standards that are outside the direct control of the political
branches should not be presumed. To the contrary, Congress must be presumed to entrust such vital law
enforcement decisions directly to the democratically accountable President and his subordinates.
We conclude that the FBI has authority under sections 533(1) and 3052 to carry out overseas investigations and
arrests that contravene customary international law…and in view of the President’s authority to override customary
international law, it must be presumed that Congress granted the FBI commensurate statutory authority…to include:
The President’s inherent constitutional power to authorize law enforcement activities.
Pursuant to the constitutional command to “take Care that the laws be faithfully executed,” the President
has the power to authorize agents of the executive branch to engage in law enforcement activities in
addition to those provided by statute.
The President, pursuant to his inherent constitutional authority, can authorize enforcement actions
independent of any statutory grant of power.
The President retains the constitutional authority to order enforcement actions in addition to those
permitted by statute.
https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Authority-of-the-Federal-Bureau-of-Investigation-to-Override-Customary-International-Law-OLC-1989.pdf