Tag Archives: Boumediene v. Bush
Indefinite Detention, and Our Unlikely Ally in the Fight
At the close of the last year, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012, which includes language that commentators claim, not unfairly, would permit the indefinite detention of even American citizens by a willing administration. The operative sections permit “detention under the law of war without trial until the end […]
Disappointment on Detention: Reviewing President Obama’s Latest Executive Order
There’s a lot to dislike in President Obama’s latest executive order, continuing detention at Guantanamo Bay, and permitting military tribunals to resume for some (as of yet undisclosed) subset of individuals. But let’s keep two things in mind. First, if we’re looking for someone to blame, the target remains Republicans, who’ve blocked any attempt to […]
Guantanamo Tribunals *Might* Produce Their First Post-Bush Conviction
Eighteen months after Obama took office. Seven years (to the day) after the tribunals were first set up by executive fiat (pdf). And still, only on a guilty plea. To be clear, Bush’s combatant status review tribunals (CSRTs) produced some convictions on his watch — but very few with any degree of permanence, and even […]
Ignore NRO: No Easy Answer on Executive Detention
A recent letter from Attorney General Ben Holder to Senator McConnell (R-KY) (pdf) confronts, head on, Republican allegations that the civilization system is inappropriate for trying putative terrorists. Holder characterizes the debate as follows: The decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab in federal court, and the methods used to interrogate him, are fully consistent with the […]
Breaking? Senate May Vote to Block KSM/Manhattan Trial
Over the past few days, an increasing number of New York politicians, to everyone’s shame, have followed Governor Paterson’s cowardly example and called for President Obama to select another site — or a non-Article III court — for the trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). I’ll cut some slack to Mayor Bloomberg […]
Memo to Politico — Pick a Side! We’re at War!
President Obama has finally secured a federal prison for ex-Guantánamo detainees in the U.S., in Illinois, scoring a sound victory for the notion that Americans will step up to the plate to solve national problems. Naturally, for Politico, this just won’t do. So they’re going after him from both ends. Either Obama is continuing indefinite […]
The Strange, Ill-Informed Cowardice of Phyllis Schlafly
Apparently you all didn’t find the special congressional race in upstate New York — or its would-be recount, and the potential fallout for New York’s new voting systems — all that interesting. For shame! That stuff was cool. Anyways, in partial atonement for my sins, this commentary on Phyllis Schlafly’s latest insanity (h/t Pi). – […]
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