IP: Village Voice: Assault on Liberty: Abandoning the Constitution to Military Tribunals

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0147/hentoff.php


> Sender: rberger () imap ultradevices com
> Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 01:53:49 -0800
> From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ultradevices com>
>
> Assault on Liberty
> by Nat Hentoff
>
> Abandoning the Constitution to Military Tribunals
>
>
> During his terms as governor of Texas, George W. Bush made it clear
> that he was dangerously ignorant of the Constitution-not only denying
> due process to the record number of people he executed but also
> refusing effective counsel to indigent inmates of Texas prisons.
>
> But as president, Bush, terrorized by the terrorists, is abandoning
> more and more of the fundamental rights and liberties that he-and his
> unquestioning subordinates-assured us they were fighting to preserve.
>
> On Thursday, November 15, William Safire-The New York Times'
> constitutional conservative-distilled Bush's new raid on the
> Constitution:
>
> "Misadvised by a frustrated and panic-stricken attorney general, a
> president of the United States has just assumed what amounts to
> dictatorial power to jail or execute aliens. . . . We are letting
> George W. Bush get away with the replacement of the American rule of
> law with military kangaroo courts. . . . In an Orwellian twist, Bush's
> order calls this Soviet-style abomination 'a full and fair trial.' "
>
>
>
> These secret trials will be based, to a large extent, on secret
> evidence.
>
>
>
> What Bush has done by executive order-bypassing Congress and the
> constitutional separation of powers-is to establish special military
> tribunals to try noncitizens suspected of terrorism.  Their authority
> will extend over permanent noncitizen American residents, lawfully
> living in the United States, as well as foreigners.
>
> The trials will be held here or in other countries-like Pakistan or
> "liberated" Afghanistan-and on ships at sea. The trials will be in
> secret. There will be no juries. Panels of military officers will be
> the judges-with the power to impose the death penalty if two-thirds of
> these uniformed judges agree. There will be no appeals to any of the
> sentences. (Even in regular court martials, judges must rule
> unanimously for executions.)\


<snip>


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