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Assault on Civil Liberties
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Assault on Civil Liberties
The International Herald Tribune | The New York Times
Tuesday, 11 June, 2002 ?
The Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 assault on civil liberties reached a new low recently when the Justice Department argued in court that an American-born detainee, who may be a United States citizen, should not be allowed to talk to a lawyer. This is the same Justice Department that has refused to release the names and locations of the estimated 1,200 people detained after Sept. 11, and that has insisted on conducting detainees' legal hearings in secret. These policies are blatantly unconstitutional, and in recent rulings courts have begun saying just that.
The administration likes to present its harsh detainee policies as aimed exclusively at foreigners, but the case of Yasser Esam Hamdi shows that American citizens may be no less vulnerable to having their rights erased. Hamdi, a prisoner from the Afghanistan war, was born in the United States, and although his family later took him back to Saudi Arabia, he may never have given up the American citizenship he was born with. He was held in Guant?namo Bay until the citizenship issue was raised, and then he was transferred to a domestic prison.
It appears that Hamdi has a Sixth Amendment right to be represented by counsel. But the Justice Department has blocked attempts by the Virginia federal public defender's office to meet with him. That is indefensible. A Federal District Court in Norfolk ruled that the public defender should be allowed to see Hamdi, but the Justice Department has appealed. The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit should quickly affirm the court's decision.
The Justice Department has also received a well-deserved judicial rebuke for its policy of refusing to release the names of detainees. Secret imprisonment conjures up Kafka novels, and nonfiction stories of life in a police state. The government argues that the information could help Al Qaeda by letting it know which operatives are in custody. But it is more plausible that the terrorist network would realize that operatives it has been unable to contact are likely in jail. In March a New Jersey state court held that the public must have access to records of detainees being held in New Jersey. That decision is headed for appeal, and should be affirmed. In Washington, Judge Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court heard arguments last week in a similar lawsuit. She should use the case to order release of the names and locations of detainees nationwide. Another right infringed by the Justice Department's policy toward detainees is America's proud tradition of open trials. The government has barred, on national security grounds, the press and members of the public from immigration hearings for immigrants detained after Sept. 11. In sensitive cases the government can seek to protect particular pieces of evidence, but there is no basis for the sweeping approach the government has adopted. In recent weeks federal courts in New Jersey and Michigan have ruled against the federal government's across-the-board policy of closed hearings. Other courts around the country should follow those sensible precedents.
The number of post-Sept. 11 detainees has fallen to about 100, as detainees have been deported or, in some cases, freed. But, as the war on terrorism continues, it seems inevitable that their ranks will increase again. Making public the names of detainees, holding open immigration proceedings and providing access to counsel are not legal niceties - they are fundamental parts of the American system of justice. The Bush administration should rethink its policies toward the detainees. If it does not, the courts will have to continue educating the administration on the law, and will have to keep striking those policies down.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/09.012F.assault.civil.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
The International Herald Tribune | The New York Times
Tuesday, 11 June, 2002 ?
The Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 assault on civil liberties reached a new low recently when the Justice Department argued in court that an American-born detainee, who may be a United States citizen, should not be allowed to talk to a lawyer. This is the same Justice Department that has refused to release the names and locations of the estimated 1,200 people detained after Sept. 11, and that has insisted on conducting detainees' legal hearings in secret. These policies are blatantly unconstitutional, and in recent rulings courts have begun saying just that.
The administration likes to present its harsh detainee policies as aimed exclusively at foreigners, but the case of Yasser Esam Hamdi shows that American citizens may be no less vulnerable to having their rights erased. Hamdi, a prisoner from the Afghanistan war, was born in the United States, and although his family later took him back to Saudi Arabia, he may never have given up the American citizenship he was born with. He was held in Guant?namo Bay until the citizenship issue was raised, and then he was transferred to a domestic prison.
It appears that Hamdi has a Sixth Amendment right to be represented by counsel. But the Justice Department has blocked attempts by the Virginia federal public defender's office to meet with him. That is indefensible. A Federal District Court in Norfolk ruled that the public defender should be allowed to see Hamdi, but the Justice Department has appealed. The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit should quickly affirm the court's decision.
The Justice Department has also received a well-deserved judicial rebuke for its policy of refusing to release the names of detainees. Secret imprisonment conjures up Kafka novels, and nonfiction stories of life in a police state. The government argues that the information could help Al Qaeda by letting it know which operatives are in custody. But it is more plausible that the terrorist network would realize that operatives it has been unable to contact are likely in jail. In March a New Jersey state court held that the public must have access to records of detainees being held in New Jersey. That decision is headed for appeal, and should be affirmed. In Washington, Judge Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court heard arguments last week in a similar lawsuit. She should use the case to order release of the names and locations of detainees nationwide. Another right infringed by the Justice Department's policy toward detainees is America's proud tradition of open trials. The government has barred, on national security grounds, the press and members of the public from immigration hearings for immigrants detained after Sept. 11. In sensitive cases the government can seek to protect particular pieces of evidence, but there is no basis for the sweeping approach the government has adopted. In recent weeks federal courts in New Jersey and Michigan have ruled against the federal government's across-the-board policy of closed hearings. Other courts around the country should follow those sensible precedents.
The number of post-Sept. 11 detainees has fallen to about 100, as detainees have been deported or, in some cases, freed. But, as the war on terrorism continues, it seems inevitable that their ranks will increase again. Making public the names of detainees, holding open immigration proceedings and providing access to counsel are not legal niceties - they are fundamental parts of the American system of justice. The Bush administration should rethink its policies toward the detainees. If it does not, the courts will have to continue educating the administration on the law, and will have to keep striking those policies down.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/09.012F.assault.civil.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878