Years ago, a colleague in biochemistry talked excitedly
about his research here on frog eyes. I dismissed this until he explained that
frogs have the most sensitive eye anatomy known to researchers. A frog’s eye
can detect a single photon, the smallest unit of light. The implication? If we
understand what makes a frog’s eye work, we might develop technologies to
alleviate human blindness.
In the legal academy, Prof. Kevin M. Kearney published a
seemingly obscure law review article, “Private Citizens in Foreign Affairs: A
Constitutional Analysis," Emory Law Journal (1987). He studied the origins of
the Logan Act, a 1799 law that makes it a criminal offense for a private
citizen to conduct diplomacy for the United States. The point of the law is to ensure
that private citizens do not negotiate deals that undermine our laws.
There is news today that retired-Gen. Mike Flynn communicated with a
high level Russian official the day that President Obama imposed new sanctions
for interfering with our election. Flynn and the Russian official don’t deny
that they talked—they say they were merely exchanging Christmas and New Year’s
best wishes. The timing and context suggest that they were possibly discussing
removal of sanctions.
Like my biochemist colleague, Prof. Kearney’s somewhat
obscure research on the Logan Act may help us see current events more clearly.
And possibly, a special prosecutor will be named to see if Gen. Flynn— who is a
private citizen until January 20th— violated the Logan Act.
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