against humanity trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. (See here for developments last week in the trial of Taylor père.) Notable was the rejection by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of defense objections that 18 U.S.C. § 2340A, the statute that implements U.S. ratification of the Convention Against Torture, was unconstitutionally vague.While awaiting Emmanuel's trial in Miami, also set to begin early next year, check out this commentary comparing the anti-vagueness arguments that U.S. Department of Justice attorneys made in Emmanuel with the pro-vagueness arguments their superiors've made in the course of the post-9/11
campaign against terrorism (arguments recently echoed, in defense of the testimony of newly inaugurated U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, by former Mary Jo White (above left, a Manhattan-based former U.S. Attorney). Author of the critique is Elizabeth de la Vega (right), whose 20-plus-year career as a federal prosecutor included membership on the Organized Crime Strike Force and heading the San Jose branch of the Office of the U.S. Attorney.
