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LizE
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 246
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 Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:34 am Post subject: |
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| monica wrote: | | Per section 1021, "Persons whose detention is authorized" excludes US citizens. |
January 25, 2012, AP:
A federal appeals panel on Monday turned away efforts by a U.S. citizen who was detained for nearly four years as an “enemy combatant.” Jose Padilla’s efforts to reinstate a lawsuit against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other government officials were rejected by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
Padilla contended that he’s entitled to sue because the government deprived him of other ways to seek remedies for his treatment. The appeals panel affirmed a federal judge’s dismissal of Padilla’s lawsuit, ruling that Congress, not the court system, has jurisdiction over military detention cases and that Congress has not explicitly provided a remedy for civil damages.
December 7, 2010, NYT:
A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit that had sought to block the American government from trying to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a United States citizen and Muslim cleric in hiding overseas who is accused of helping to plan attacks by Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen. The ruling, which clears the way for the Obama administration to continue to try to kill Mr. Awlaki, represents a victory in its efforts to shield from judicial review so-called targeted killings, one of its most striking counterterrorism policies. . . .
“If the court’s ruling is correct, the government has unreviewable authority to carry out the targeted killing of any American, anywhere, whom the president deems to be a threat to the nation,” [the ACLU's Jameel] Jaffer said. “It would be difficult to conceive of a proposition more inconsistent with the Constitution, or more dangerous to American liberty.”
September 10, 2010 NYT:
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that former prisoners of the C.I.A. could not sue over their alleged torture in overseas prisons because such a lawsuit might expose secret government information. The sharply divided ruling was a major victory for the Obama administration’s efforts to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy powers. . . .
In April 2009, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit adopted the narrower view, ruling that the lawsuit as a whole should proceed. But the Obama administration appealed to the full San Francisco-based appeals court. A group of 11 of its judges reheard the case, and a narrow majority endorsed the broader view of executive secrecy powers. They concluded that the lawsuit must be dismissed without a trial — even one that would seek to rely only on public information.
The cases cited above are facts, not rumors or conspiracy theories. This bill only codifies rights already claimed by our government. |
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monica
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 11
Location: Montreal, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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Agreed. The cases that you cite precede this bill. The point I was addressing is that this specific bill did not change existing law pertaining to the detention of US citizens and the powers described in that section of the bill exclude US citizens.
| LizE wrote: | | monica wrote: | | Per section 1021, "Persons whose detention is authorized" excludes US citizens. |
January 25, 2012, AP:
A federal appeals panel on Monday turned away efforts by a U.S. citizen who was detained for nearly four years as an “enemy combatant.” Jose Padilla’s efforts to reinstate a lawsuit against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other government officials were rejected by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
Padilla contended that he’s entitled to sue because the government deprived him of other ways to seek remedies for his treatment. The appeals panel affirmed a federal judge’s dismissal of Padilla’s lawsuit, ruling that Congress, not the court system, has jurisdiction over military detention cases and that Congress has not explicitly provided a remedy for civil damages.
December 7, 2010, NYT:
A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit that had sought to block the American government from trying to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a United States citizen and Muslim cleric in hiding overseas who is accused of helping to plan attacks by Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen. The ruling, which clears the way for the Obama administration to continue to try to kill Mr. Awlaki, represents a victory in its efforts to shield from judicial review so-called targeted killings, one of its most striking counterterrorism policies. . . .
“If the court’s ruling is correct, the government has unreviewable authority to carry out the targeted killing of any American, anywhere, whom the president deems to be a threat to the nation,” [the ACLU's Jameel] Jaffer said. “It would be difficult to conceive of a proposition more inconsistent with the Constitution, or more dangerous to American liberty.”
September 10, 2010 NYT:
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that former prisoners of the C.I.A. could not sue over their alleged torture in overseas prisons because such a lawsuit might expose secret government information. The sharply divided ruling was a major victory for the Obama administration’s efforts to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy powers. . . .
In April 2009, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit adopted the narrower view, ruling that the lawsuit as a whole should proceed. But the Obama administration appealed to the full San Francisco-based appeals court. A group of 11 of its judges reheard the case, and a narrow majority endorsed the broader view of executive secrecy powers. They concluded that the lawsuit must be dismissed without a trial — even one that would seek to rely only on public information.
The cases cited above are facts, not rumors or conspiracy theories. This bill only codifies rights already claimed by our government. |
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LizE
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 246
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| monica wrote: | | Agreed. The cases that you cite precede this bill. The point I was addressing is that this specific bill did not change existing law pertaining to the detention of US citizens and the powers described in that section of the bill exclude US citizens. |
Apparently US citizens are only excluded from the requirement that all accused terrorists be held in military detention, but military detention is still an option, just as it was for Jose Padilla.
| Quote: | From Glenn Greenwald, constitutional lawyer (emphasis added):
The Levin/McCain bill would require that all accused Terrorists be held in military detention and not be charged in a civilian court — including those apprehended on U.S. soil — with two caveats: (1) it exempts U.S. citizens and legal residents from this mandate, for whom military detention would still be optional (i.e., in the discretion of the Executive Branch); and (2) it allows the Executive Branch to issue a waiver if it wants to charge an accused Terrorist in the civilian system.
One of the nation’s most stalwart war cheerleaders and one of the bill’s most vocal proponents, Sen. Lindsey Graham, made clear what the provision’s intent is: “If you’re an American citizen and you betray your country, you’re not going to be given a lawyer . . . I believe our military should be deeply involved in fighting these guys at home or abroad.” As Graham made chillingly clear, one key effect of the provision is that the U.S. military — rather than domestic law enforcement agencies — will be used to apprehend and imprison accused Terrorists on American soil, including U.S. citizens. |
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