Seizing Russians' assets is good politics, but it may not be legal

Jaden Amos | Paste BN

Today's newsletter discusses seizing Russian oligarchs' assets, more on Ketanji Brown Jackson and a column on Madeleine Albright. Happy reading, and have a great weekend!

Seizing Russians' assets is good politics, but it may not be legal

By Jonathan Turley

One of the most celebrated moments of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address came when he spoke directly to Russian oligarchs: “We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

The Russian oligarch has become a universally despised embodiment of the Putin regime after the Ukrainian invasion. Not surprisingly, the seizure of obscenely opulent yachts – like the 213-foot yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Italy and Igor Sechin’s 280-foot yacht in France – has been praised as a victory in defense of democracy. Resorts, planes and other property also have been seized. (Putin moved his yacht, Graceful, out to sea before the invasion, according to Insider)

Seizing property owned by the super wealthy is always good politics. Biden's line was strikingly similar to the warning of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to wealthy Americans in the 2020 presidential campaign that she was coming after "your Rembrandts, your stock portfolio, your diamonds and your yachts.” Warren's pledge rested on highly dubious constitutional assumptions but was repeated by other Democratic candidates.

Judge Jackson's troubling take on her judicial philosophy

By Scott Douglas Gerber

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testified during her Senate confirmation hearing that her judicial "philosophy" is her judicial "methodology," and that her judicial methodology is to be neutral, to understand the facts and to interpret the law.

That testimony was problematic.

Judicial philosophy is the way a judge understands and interprets the law. Different theories of interpretation sometimes lead to different answers about the meaning of the Constitution, which is why it is important to know what a Supreme Court nominee's judicial philosophy is.

Madeleine Albright blazed a trail, then kept lifting, inspiring women

By Connie Schultz

Madeleine Albright died this week, at age 84. Obituaries rightly note that, after representing our country at the United Nations, she became the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of State, from 1997 to 2001. To many, this feels like ancient history now, when 168 women serve in Congress – 144 in the House, 24 in the Senate – and Kamala Harris is vice president of the United States. It’s not enough, but there’s no denying the progress.

For many of us, though, Secretary Albright was the surest sign of our own brighter futures. After a unanimous Senate confirmation, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history of our government. And yet, she was accessible. She was a tower of might, not height, a woman with an easy smile who spoke six languages and loved to talk about her vast collection of lapel pins.

She was not born to an easy life. She was a child of Czech refugees who fled the Nazis and raised her to be Catholic. Only after she became secretary of state did she find out, through Washington Post reporting, that she was Jewish and that 26 family members were killed in the Holocaust, including three of her grandparents.

Seizing Russians' assets is good politics, but it may not be legal