Christopher Dunn

December 21, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, writes: On the one hand, extreme political positions have led to violence. On the other hand, our society is full of extreme political rhetoric, and the Internet has vastly expanded the ability of people to convey this speech to huge audiences. Our challenge is to resist the pressure to mistake the rhetoric for the violence.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

December 21, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, writes that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in a case that has brought death-penalty executions to a halt around the country. At issue in Baze v. Rees is whether lethal injection violates the Eighth Amendment's proscription against cruel and unusual punishment.

By Christopher Dunn

10 minute read

October 05, 2011 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Liberties column, Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, discusses the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in the Financial District, and how the burgeoning protest and occupation raises constitutional issues about New York City's ability to control activity in Zuccotti Park, including protesters sleeping there.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

June 30, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, writes that government agents have played a significant role in several alleged plots of domestic terrorism, so it is not surprising that defendants in these cases often have asserted entrapment. The defense has rarely succeeded, however, and, he notes, in the three significant terrorism appeals the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has heard in the last 15 years ? the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 2004 plot to bomb the Herald Square subway station, and the Albany 2004 plot to use a missile on a Pakistani diplomat in New York City ? it summarily rejected entrapment claims.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

June 02, 2011 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, writes: In the late 1960s the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion that was extraordinary in extolling the value of student speech and condemning efforts by school officials to suppress that speech. Though professing to adhere to that case, the Second Circuit in late April rejected a First Amendment claim with an opinion that illustrates how far the lower courts have come in turning their back on the spirit of the Supreme Court's seminal ruling.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

April 22, 2008 | New York Law Journal

Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, writes that one of the most powerful tools available to those engaged in civil rights law-reform work is the so-called "facial challenge." But the power of this tool is also its Achilles' heel, in that judicial nullification of statutes raises substantial concerns about judicial activism. In two recent decisions, these concerns have led the Supreme Court to step back from facial challenges.

By Christopher Dunn

10 minute read

January 02, 2002 | The Legal Intelligencer

On Nov. 13, President Bush signed a military order authorizing military commissions to try to sentence certain noncitizens detained in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Pursuant to that order, military officials in the United States can conduct trials (which may be closed to the public and may rely on evidence not disclosed to the defendant) and can impose a sentence of death. The order further seeks to bar judicial review of such proceedings.

By Christopher Dunn

7 minute read

June 01, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, writes that as controversy swirls around three major land-use proposals in New York City � construction of the New York Jets Stadium in Manhattan, construction of the New Jersey Nets Arena in Brooklyn, and expansion of Columbia University into Harlem � the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule on the constitutional limits on the government's power to take property for use by private entities in the name of economic development.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

July 12, 2004 | New York Law Journal

Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, discusses what will happen if, as appears likely, the Legislature fails to enact mandated reforms on school funding by the end of the month.

By Christopher Dunn

10 minute read

April 07, 2011 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, reviews last week's Supreme Court ruling on the circumstances under which plaintiffs alleging constitutional violations by cities could win on the theory that a city had failed to train its employees properly, in this case, training for prosecutors about their obligations to disclose exculpatory materials to criminal defendants.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read