by Cynthia Price
Legal News
Homeland security law? Michael McDaniel has it covered.
That is, Brigadier General (retd) Michael C.H. McDaniel, formerly U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense Strategy, Prevention and Mission Assurance and Michigan’s first Homeland Security Advisor, and
architect of Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s upcoming Homeland and National Security LL.M. (Master of Laws) Program.
In late February, the Higher Learning Commission granted accreditation to the program, earlier green-lighted by the American Bar Association. The visionary Master of Laws program will start during the school’s September 2013 term.
There are National Security Law programs at a small number of law schools throughout the country, but this will be the first to concentrate in the relatively new field of Homeland Security. “There is no other LL.M. program in Homeland Security Law, though Homeland Security courses are offered in the National Security Master of Laws programs at places like George Washington University,” McDaniel comments.
Talking to McDaniel about homeland security, national security, and cybersecurity is a bit like reading an encyclopedia, although more comprehensive and thoughtful than most of the online versions. He is in command of both the details and the overview on these far-reaching disciplines.
McDaniel, who also teaches Constitutional Law at Cooley, has had to put a lot of detail to development of the LL.M. in order to request acquiescence from the ABA, and approval from the Higher Learning Commission, as well as from Cooley’s curriculum committee.
The program requires 24 credit hours over and above Cooley’s Juris Doctor degree, which breaks down to 12 credit hours, or four classes, of mandatory courses, and 12 credit hours of electives.
McDaniel says he currently envisions that it will be possible to take the courses entirely in person at the Lansing or Auburn Hills campuses (or through distance learning at the other campuses, including, he hopes, Tampa Bay); entirely online; or a combination of both.
The required courses will be:
—Homeland Security Law, an overview course which covers the evolving discipline around laws mostly passed in 2002-2003 in response to the catastrophic events of Sept. 11, 2001; also including the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act from 2004, the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, (2006), and the 9/11 Commission Act (2007), as well as some laws still in effect which preceded 2001.
McDaniel says he intends for this to “impress upon the students that though the bulk of Homeland Security Law involves statutes passed since 2001, there is overlap with emergency management and national security law.”
—Comparative Law in Homeland Security, which will cover the legal responses of other countries. At the beginning of this class, students will choose a country as the subject of a paper and learn how to frame their
investigations based on the curriculum covering the laws of a set number of countries (such as Canada and Israel).
—National Security Law, a traditional study of definitions, global legal systems, other nations’ responses to instability. McDaniel says, “This will be a consideration of the use of power by the U.S. externally, in particular considering how we look at insurgency or terrorist threats and how we distinguish between those.”
—Law of Counter-Terrorism, which will explore criminal procedures, the legality and appropriateness of policy approaches, and will even include state law.
McDaniel adds, “I’ve been offering some of the classes as a J.D. elective or to other LL.M. candidates, just to get a sense of how they’ll be received — to ‘beta test’ them, if I may use that term.” He says the Comparative Law class was particularly well-received.
The electives have yet to be fully fleshed out, but there will be an emphasis on covering legal disciplines that are integrally part of Homeland Security, for example, immigrant law, federal contracting or fiscal law, maritime law, and aviation law.
“I did a study back in 2006 or 2007, an electronic survey of general counsel at the federal agencies, and asked, what are those areas of law that you consider homeland security?” McDaniel says. The answers to that question have helped shape the current curriculum.
In-depth education on federal administrative law will certainly be critical. As McDaniel said in an official statement, “...Department of Homeland Security sub-agencies are creating thousands of pages of regulations under new, but little-understood statutory authority.”
Of course, the curriculum will run into difficulty handling law that has not yet been written. As McDaniel points out, that is the case with cybersecurity, another crucial piece but one about which legislators have reached no consensus.
“It’s difficult to tailor a course in cybersecurity yet,”McDaniel comments. “I want the course to be current and substantive, so it has to be more than just talking about e-commerce and business solutions. But the law isn’t there yet, and it has to be a course on the law, so I’m watching that very closely.”
Indeed, there is a YouTube video of McDaniel talking about the failure of some cybersecurity bills which were floated in past sessions.
McDaniel received his Juris Doctor from Case Western REserve University School of Law, as well as a Masters in Strategic Studies from Army War College, and a Masters of Arts in Strategic Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the National Guard, where he also served as a military judge.
From 2003 to 2009, McDaniel was the Homeland Security Advisor to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, serving as the liaison to federal, state and local agencies, including being asked to chair some of them.
He decided to bring all of this expertise to Cooley in part because the school has shown a dedication to veterans and veterans law. The Veterans Administration designated Cooley a “Yellow Ribbon School,” meaning military members who qualify for the GI Bill may choose it for further education.
“One of the strongest reasons I chose Cooley is because of its demonstrated commitment to assisting soldiers and veterans,” said McDaniel. “I wanted to build on that commitment by creating a program that members of the military and others interested or engaged in federal service can use to further their careers.”
Adds Cooley President Don LeDuc, “Homeland Security Law is a growing field, and Cooley is uniquely qualified to be a leader in developing and offering this type of program.”
Remaining to be completed is securing adjunct professors with expertise to teach all of the courses, though some have already signed on. One of particular note is Andy Arena, the Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Office of the FBI. (See Grand Rapids Legal News, 3/31/10.)
McDaniel looks forward to the program’s launch. “It has been a lot of work,” he says, “but it’s really enjoyable work. You feel like you’re doing something new and innovative, so its very satisfying intellectually.
It will be great to have this up and running.”
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