The Political Question Doctrine and Civil Liability for Contracting Companies on the “Battlefield”

Abstract

Out of a myriad of concerns in this evolving arena-ranging from criminal jurisdiction, to training, to labor and employment law-this Article focuses on providing an overview of the "political question" doctrine's development in recent case law associated with civil complaints brought in American courts against contracting companies operating in battlefield environments such as Iraq and Afghanistan, a matter addressed by the author at the Review of Litigation's Symposium- Terror on Trial: Civil Litigation in the War on Terror. The political question doctrine, which excludes from judicial review all controversies involving policy choices and other value determinations that the Constitution reserves to the Congress and the Executive for resolution, represents a formidable jurisdictional shield and will no doubt continue to be a source of jurisprudence and debate in the future