So my question is, what can we do to make sure that no U.S. citizen is ever jailed indefinitely without trial?
The new NDAA, signed into law by Obama, made it legal to detain American citizens indefinitely. Obama argued that this is true in front of Congress. He just said HE wouldn't use it. It's a loaded gun he promised not to fire.
Just in case I didn't word things clearly.
Indefinitely without trial, I mean.
courtesyflush, no, it wasn't a trick question. I want people racking their brains with ideas on how to defend our rights now that the new NDAA has them on the chopping block.
But maybe you can explain how that would help?
Jenny: Thanks for the article. Just the same, I want to provide some context for the article's author so people can make up their own minds about how qualified he is to speak on the topic. Benjamin Wittes is a Hoover Administration fellow, along with several of Bush's top aides including Condoleeza Rice. You can find more about them on their wikipedia pages,
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Benjamin_Wittes
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Hoover_Institution
And the relevant passage from the NDAA,
"(2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces."
It would have been interesting if Witte had commented on the "belligerent act" wording; that's what most civil righ
civil rights activists, including several ACLU lawyers as esteemed as Mr Witte, are concerned about.
The new NDAA, signed into law by Obama, made it legal to detain American citizens indefinitely. Obama argued that this is true in front of Congress. He just said HE wouldn't use it. It's a loaded gun he promised not to fire.
Just in case I didn't word things clearly.
Indefinitely without trial, I mean.
courtesyflush, no, it wasn't a trick question. I want people racking their brains with ideas on how to defend our rights now that the new NDAA has them on the chopping block.
But maybe you can explain how that would help?
Jenny: Thanks for the article. Just the same, I want to provide some context for the article's author so people can make up their own minds about how qualified he is to speak on the topic. Benjamin Wittes is a Hoover Administration fellow, along with several of Bush's top aides including Condoleeza Rice. You can find more about them on their wikipedia pages,
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Benjamin_Wittes
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Hoover_Institution
And the relevant passage from the NDAA,
"(2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces."
It would have been interesting if Witte had commented on the "belligerent act" wording; that's what most civil righ
civil rights activists, including several ACLU lawyers as esteemed as Mr Witte, are concerned about.