Abu Ghraib and the Perversion of the Political Question Doctrine
Iโve written extensively about the important and complex legal questions raised by state-law tort suits against private military contractors, many of which have arisen in the context of suits by victims of torture at Abu Ghraib. Itโs against that backdrop that I was disappointed to read yesterdayโsโฆdistrict court decision in al-Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology, Inc., which, on second remand from the Fourth Circuit, relied upon the political question doctrine to dismiss Abu Ghraib victimsโ claims against the contractors allegedly responsible for their abuse. As I explain in the post that follows, there are twoโฆflaws in Judge Gerald Bruce Leeโs opinion...[O]ne of those flaws isโฆthe result of the Fourth Circuitโs expansive approach to the political question doctrine in military contractor casesโฆ