Detainees, Even if Acquitted, Might Not Go Free
Wall Street Journal
07/07/09
The Obama administration said Tuesday it may continue to imprison non-U.S. citizens indefinitely even if they have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a U.S. military commission. Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department’s chief lawyer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that releasing a detainee who has been tried and found not guilty was a policy decision officials would make based on their estimate of whether the prisoner posed a future threat. The Bush administration took the same position, but its legality was never tested. Also at the hearing, Obama administration officials differed with the Navy’s senior uniformed lawyer over whether coerced statements could be used to obtain convictions before military commissions...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124699680303307309.html
The Obama justice system
Salon
by Glenn Greenwald
07/08/09
In June, Robert Gibbs was repeatedly asked by ABC News‘ Jake Tapper whether accused Terrorists who were given a trial and were acquitted would be released as a result of the acquittal, but Gibbs — amazingly — refused to make that commitment. But this is the first time an Obama official has affirmatively stated that they have the ‘post-acquittal detention’ power (and, to my knowledge, the Bush administration never claimed the power to detain someone even if they were acquitted). All of this underscores what has clearly emerged as the core ‘principle’ of Obama justice when it comes to accused Terrorists — namely, ‘due process’ is pure window dressing with only one goal: to ensure that anyone the President wants to keep imprisoned will remain in prison. They’ll create various procedures to prettify the process, but the outcome is always the same — ongoing detention for as long as the President dictates...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/07/08/obama/index.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detainee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+commission
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=terrorism+charges
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=indefinitely
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=what+change
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald
07/07/09
The Obama administration said Tuesday it may continue to imprison non-U.S. citizens indefinitely even if they have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a U.S. military commission. Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department’s chief lawyer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that releasing a detainee who has been tried and found not guilty was a policy decision officials would make based on their estimate of whether the prisoner posed a future threat. The Bush administration took the same position, but its legality was never tested. Also at the hearing, Obama administration officials differed with the Navy’s senior uniformed lawyer over whether coerced statements could be used to obtain convictions before military commissions...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124699680303307309.html
The Obama justice system
Salon
by Glenn Greenwald
07/08/09
In June, Robert Gibbs was repeatedly asked by ABC News‘ Jake Tapper whether accused Terrorists who were given a trial and were acquitted would be released as a result of the acquittal, but Gibbs — amazingly — refused to make that commitment. But this is the first time an Obama official has affirmatively stated that they have the ‘post-acquittal detention’ power (and, to my knowledge, the Bush administration never claimed the power to detain someone even if they were acquitted). All of this underscores what has clearly emerged as the core ‘principle’ of Obama justice when it comes to accused Terrorists — namely, ‘due process’ is pure window dressing with only one goal: to ensure that anyone the President wants to keep imprisoned will remain in prison. They’ll create various procedures to prettify the process, but the outcome is always the same — ongoing detention for as long as the President dictates...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/07/08/obama/index.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detainee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+commission
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=terrorism+charges
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=indefinitely
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=what+change
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald
rudkla - 8. Jul, 09:49
