Propaganda: A Weapon of War

By Deana DiBenedetto

Deana DiBenedetto is a May 2023 graduate of Albany Law School. 

Prior to attending law school, Deana earned her bachelor’s degree from Saint Michael’s College, where she majored in Political Science, complemented by a minor in Crime and Justice. During college, Deana interned with the Greene County District Attorney’s Office, as well as the American Bar Association’s Government Affairs Office in Washington, D.C. 

During law school, Deana interned in the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York. Additionally, she participated in a Field Placement in the chambers of the Honorable Daniel J. Stewart. Deana was a quarterfinalist in the 2021 Donna Jo Morse Client Counseling Competition, and she competed in the 2022 Domenick L. Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Competition, in which she and her partner were finalists and received an award for their brief. Deana also won a best oral advocate award. Deana also competed in the 2022 Karen C. McGovern Senior Prize Trials Competition. She and her partner ultimately won the competition, and Deana also won the best oral advocate award. 

In her last year of law school, Deana served as Vice President of the Italian American Law Student Association, worked as a student ambassador for the Office of Admissions, was an editor for Albany Law Review and the Center for Judicial Process, and worked as a law clerk at Harris Beach PLLC where she will be starting her career after the bar exam.

Deana wrote this paper for Professor Bonventre’s International Law of War and Crime seminar.

The First Amendment guarantees that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” It is widely believed that protection of this constitutional right is vital to ensuring the advancement of knowledge and truth. Yet, the United States government, while tasked with ensuring that information is properly disseminated to the American public in order to maintain an informed citizenry, has increasingly used propaganda to communicate stories in the marketplace of ideas. 

This paper characterizes propaganda as a weapon of war, and provides a case study illustrating the use of propaganda by the United States during the Vietnam War. 

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To read the paper, open HERE.

Blurred Lines: Combatants & Non-Combatants in Modern American Conflicts

By Michael R. Tancredi

Michael R. Tancredi is a third-year student at Albany Law School. He grew up in Hunter, NY, and graduated from the University of Vermont with majors in political science and history. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he chose to immediately begin his legal education in Albany.

While attending law school, Michael interned with the New York State Division of Veteran's Services, reviewing state legislation and assisting veterans in obtaining state benefits and assistance. Upon graduation, Michael hopes to move to New York City and pursue a legal career in public service.

This paper analyzes the morally fraught dichotomy between enemy combatants and non-combatants in a Post-Vietnam War world. The blurred lines encompassed by this juxtaposition are further complicated by the evolution of classical insurgency into the contemporary understanding of terrorism. The nature of modern conflict has produced competing approaches to the principle of discrimination, competing approaches that require that all parties to an armed conflict distinguish between civilians and combatants when conducting military operations.

Can the U.S. approach of discrimination rise to a reasonable basis of distinction between enemy combatant and civilian, or is a more narrowly tailored approach needed? Is self-defense a rational justification for unmeasured drone strikes against Middle-East villages suspected of formerly harboring enemy combatants? These are the topics and issues this paper addresses, through both a historical and pragmatic lens.

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To read the paper, open HERE.