Letters to the Editor
druidbros
Published Letters: 117
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This is very disturbing...
[Read the article: Tom Friedman doesn't understand why America is unpopular in the world]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From the NY Times...
Court Backs Bush on Military Detentions
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: July 16, 2008
President Bush has the legal power to order the indefinite military detentions of civilians captured in the United States, the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Tuesday in a fractured 5-to-4 decision.
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But a second, overlapping 5-to-4 majority of the court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, ruled that Ali al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar now in military custody in Charleston, S.C., must be given an additional opportunity to challenge his detention in federal court there. An earlier court proceeding, in which the government had presented only a sworn statement from a defense intelligence official, was inadequate, the second majority ruled.
The decision was a victory for the Bush administration, which had maintained that a 2001 Congressional authorization to use military force after the Sept. 11 attacks granted the president the power to detain people living in the United States.
The court effectively reversed a divided three-judge panel of its own members, which ruled last year that the government lacked the power to detain civilians legally in the United States as enemy combatants. That panel ordered the government either to charge Mr. Marri or to release him. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court.
How helpful the decision will be to Mr. Marri remains to be seen, as the majority that granted him some relief was notably vague about what the new court proceeding should look like. In that respect, Tuesday’s decision resembled last month’s decision from the United States Supreme Court granting habeas corpus rights to prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay.
Mr. Marri is the only person on the American mainland known to be held as an enemy combatant. The government contended, in a declaration from the defense intelligence official, Jeffrey N. Rapp, that Mr. Marri was a Qaeda sleeper agent sent to the United States to commit mass murder and disrupt the banking system.
Mr. Marri was arrested on Dec. 12, 2001, in Peoria, Ill., where he was living with his family and studying computer science. He was charged with credit-card fraud and lying to federal agents, and was on the verge of a trial on those charges when he was moved to military detention in 2003.
Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, said the decision properly recognized “the president’s authority to capture and detain Al Qaeda agents who, like the 9/11 hijackers, come to this country to commit or facilitate warlike acts against American civilians.”
Mr. Roehrkasse added that while the department believed that Mr. Marri “had already received all the process he was due,” its lawyers were “studying the court’s decision and will respond to Mr. Marri’s contentions” before the trial judge.
Jonathan L. Hafetz, a lawyer for Mr. Marri with the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, called the Fourth Circuit’s decision deeply disturbing.
“This decision means the president can pick up any person in the country — citizen or legal resident — and lock them up for years without the most basic safeguard in the Constitution, the right to a criminal trial,” Mr. Hafetz said.
The 216-page decision included seven opinions, none of which commanded a majority. The only common ground was four unsigned paragraphs at the beginning of the decision summarizing the result.
The Fourth Circuit is generally considered the nation’s most conservative federal appeals court. The closely divided and complex decision in a major terrorism case therefore came as something of a surprise.
the rest can be read at ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/washington/16combatant.html?em&ex=1216267200&en=d3c315e2b68a7317&ei=5087%0A
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@ storyteller
[Read the article: Al-Marri and the power to imprison U.S. citizens without charges]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, my response might be....(remember its 3 am where I am)..
You only think I am always being negative because we dump on mouth breathing, anal retentive, pork rind eatin, neanderthals like you. Have a nice day !
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I also hope...
[Read the article: Al-Marri and the power to imprison U.S. citizens without charges]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sh**ter's going to end up waiting for Godot.... That brings a smile to my face. :-)
Cheers,
-- Arne Langsetmo
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That Sh**ter's waiting for 'The Trial'.
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Breaking news...
[Read the article: Bob Barr endorses Accountability Now/Strange Bedfellows coalition]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]KO is reporting that Phil Gramm is stepping down as McCain co-chair...
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re: giving our input
[Read the article: Political harmony v. the rule of law: an easy choice for the political establishment]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Over the next two weeks or so the Obama campaign is holding platform meetings. The stated purpose is to listen to what the voters have to say is important. I hold slim hope they actually will but I believe we must try. I suggest we attend these meetings and give input. You can find one near your location...
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/listening/
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@ pluege
[Read the article: Political harmony v. the rule of law: an easy choice for the political establishment]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"there is no question that politicians can still be prosecuted for crimes, but ONLY DEMOCRATIC politicians. Republicans are the only ones off limits."
Its like a dysfunctional couple. The Democrats are the oft beaten wife who never wants to press charges against her husband. But the Republican husband keeps beating her because she allows it. Nothing will change until the Democrats learn to stand up for themselves.
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re: Giving our input
[Read the article: The AT&T Convention in Denver]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Over the next two weeks or so the Obama campaign is holding platform meetings. The stated purpose is to listen to what the voters have to say is important. I hold slim hope they actually will but I believe we must try. I suggest we attend these meetings and give input. You can find one near your location...
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/listening/
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In Politico today...
[Read the article: Who is doing real journalism?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Johnathan Martinm has an article titled...'GOP losing the media wars'.
The gist of the article is that the right wing websites/blogs simply respond/comment about the news and the left leaning blogs do more actual reporting.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=543FB9F2-3048-5C12-00F5640763AD8C77
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In Politico today...
[Read the article: Who is doing real journalism?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Johnathan Martin has an article titled...'GOP losing the media wars'.
The gist of the article is that the right wing websites/blogs simply respond/comment about the news and the left leaning blogs do more actual reporting.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=543FB9F2-3048-5C12-00F5640763AD8C77