All those precedents notwithstanding, Professor Glaude's jeremiad brought on the predicted firestorm.
"The HGA negotiated with Turkey for the BTC project sets disturbing political and legal precedents," said Professor Sheldon Leader, a legal adviser to Amnesty.
"This decision sets a new precedent," said Gabriela Rodriguez Huerta, a professor of international law at the Autonomous Technical Institute of Mexico.
"Though historians are very reluctant to say never, I can't think of a single historical precedent," said Eric Foner, a professor of history at Columbia University.
Whichever way the judge decides, it could establish an important precedent, says Stanford University law professor Henry Greely.
"There are powerful arguments that Senator McCain or anyone else in this position is constitutionally qualified, but there is certainly no precedent," said Sarah H. Duggin, an associate professor of law at Catholic University who has studied the issue extensively.
And, since the act was passed, at least some of the convention rights–such as those not to be tortured or held indefinitely without charge have become more firmly rooted in English common law (which is based on precedent), argues Philippe Sands, a law professor at University College London.Devolution complicates matters further.
College Animal - Noting precedent under the mastership of Professor Chadwick, Council approved the Master's request to adopt a Very Large Cat in the Master's Lodge".
Keeping the public and press in the dark about what's happening at the DFO is not without dangerous historical precedent, says Kelly Toughill, a journalism professor at King's University in Halifax.
"Seeing six officers one after another being tried in our city is historic, it's precedent," said University of Maryland law professor Douglas Colbert.
