Martin Flaherty teaches at Princeton University, Barnard College, and Columbia and Fordham Law Schools, where he is Leitner Family Professor of Law and Founding Co-Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice. His research, writing, and advocacy focuses on constitutional law and history, international human rights, and foreign affairs.

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(Now in paperback) Restoring the Global Judiciary: Why the Supreme Court Should Rule in U.S. Foreign Affairs

In the past several decades, there has been a growing chorus of voices contending that the Supreme Court and federal judiciary should stay out of foreign affairs and leave the field to Congress and the president. Challenging this idea, Restoring the Global Judiciary argues instead for a robust judicial role in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. With an innovative combination of constitutional history, international relations theory, and legal doctrine, Martin Flaherty demonstrates that the Supreme Court and federal judiciary have the power and duty to apply the law without deference to the other branches.

“In this timely book, Martin Flaherty addresses a historic problem that has renewed urgency: whether the Supreme Court can constrain the president in world affairs. Restoring the Global Judiciary is compelling, wide-ranging, accessible, and important." — Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences

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OP-EDS

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Opinion: China’s national security law in Hong Kong doubles down on imperialism

Now that it has arrived, Beijing’s much-feared national security law for Hong Kong heralds nothing less than imperialism with Chinese characteristics. Imperialism need not always follow the classic British model of colonizing distant lands and peoples. No less typical in recent times is rule over groups with distinctive claims closer to home. But as China’s officials used to point out to the British, imperialism goes hand in fist with repression. With the new national security law, Beijing ironically doubles down on a disastrous model pioneered by Britain itself.

Northern Ireland’s Lessons for American Policing

Not that long ago, Americans would regularly go to Northern Ireland to offer advice on reforming the region’s notoriously repressive policing. Happily for Northern Ireland, and tragically for the United States, the lessons now run in the other direction. For nearly three decades, Northern Ireland suffered sustained civil strife often referred to as “The Troubles.”

Standing, Not-Standing with the Protesters: U.S. Policy on Hong Kong and BLM

The world watches as the authoritarian tendencies of the global power’s leader descend into an ever-worsening cycle of chaos and repression. Longstanding refusals to deal with police brutality, among many other festering issues, has led to massive urban street demonstrations. Those demonstrations have been met not with reform, but instead with tough talk about law and order, outside agitators, and the deployment of national security apparatus.

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Engage or Not Engage? U.S. Legal Practice in Russia, China and Other Authoritarian Regimes
Engage or Not Engage? U.S. Legal Practice in Russia, China and Other Authoritarian Regimes

The invasion of Ukraine has prompted many leading U.S. and British law firms to close their offices in Russia. Some have done so citing safety and security…