Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Torture at Guantánamo

Tomorrow's New York Times has an extensive report on torture at Guantánamo:

Broad Use Cited of Harsh Tactics at Base in Cuba: Many detainees at Guantánamo Bay were regularly subjected to harsh and coercive treatment, several people who worked in the prison said in recent interviews, despite longstanding assertions by military officials that such treatment had not occurred except in some isolated cases.

The people, military guards, intelligence agents and others, described in interviews with The New York Times a range of procedures that included treatment they said was highly abusive occurring over a long period of time, as well as rewards for prisoners who cooperated with interrogators.

One regular procedure that was described by people who worked at Camp Delta, the main prison facility at the naval base in Cuba, was making uncooperative prisoners strip to their underwear, having them sit in a chair while shackled hand and foot to a bolt in the floor, and forcing them to endure strobe lights and screamingly loud rock and rap music played through two close loudspeakers, while the air- conditioning was turned up to maximum levels, said one military official who witnessed the procedure. The official said that was designed to make the detainees uncomfortable as they were accustomed to high temperatures both in their native countries and their cells.

Such sessions could last up to 14 hours with breaks, said the official, who described the treatment after being contacted by The Times.

Remember: A vote for Bush legitimates his first term. Thus, a vote for Bush is a vote for torture.

The NYT story makes two other important points: Sunlight really is the best disinfectant—the torture regime continued essentially unabated until it got publicity in April of this year. And, Guantánamo's torture “migrated to Abu Ghraib''; the 'few bad apples' theory is now utterly in tatters.

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Posted in Guantanamo | 1 Comment

What Does Not Belong In This Picture?

In an otherwise uninteresting if mildly perplexing article on Martha Stewart's first days in prison (people are sending her money?), Money magazine offers this summary of prison regulations:

Federal prison rules generally allow outsiders to send unlimited letters, money orders, magazines and other periodicals, according to David Novak, who spent time in jail for fraud before becoming a prison consultant. Inmates are barred from getting flowers, food, personal items, “sexually explicit photographs,” or Polaroid pictures.

Polaroids? It seems they have been used to smuggle drugs. Who would have guessed.

PS. I have no great sympathy for Ms. Stewart. Although her offenses against the securities laws seem pretty minor in dollars, she was about to start a term as a Director of the New York Stock Exchange, and it's perfectly appropriate in my book to hold directors of major stock exchanges to the highest standards. This is not, as some have suggested, a case against a successful woman, or against a random executive, but rather quite appropriately made an example one of the people charged with running the stock market, one of the people on the planet who could most reasonably be expected to know and comply with the rules, indeed go the extra mile to stay away from anything even borderline.

Posted in Law: Criminal Law | 1 Comment

New Translation Tool

You find the most incredible things online. Here's what claims to be The Internet's Most Accurate English-to-English Dictionary.

Of course in a few weeks Google will offer the same functionality, and in two years it will be built into IE SP 4.

(Now also available in other languages: Español · Deutsch · Français · Italiano · Ελληνικά · Português)

Posted in Internet | 10 Comments

Freedom Is A Forbidden Topic All of a Sudden?

Sign of the times: T-shirts saying “Protect Our Civil Liberties” are now verboten at Bush rallies. Wear one and you will be ejected or arrested.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics: US: 2004 Election | 6 Comments

These Stories Are NOT Connected

There is NO connection at all between the following two stories:

#1

TalkLeft: Nat'l Guard May Return to FL Airports

Florida's National Guard patrolled Florida's airport terminals for a few months after 9/11. Now the National Guard troops have received “warning orders” advising them that they may return to that duty later this month.

“Several law-enforcement officials said there is no specific threat to Florida.” So why return the troops to the airports after nearly a three year absence? A cynic might suspect that the administration is trying to scare voters, or that it wants to create the illusion that the government is working to protect voters from a specific threat.

and, #2,

First Draft, Manipulating the Public through Terror Warnings: Empirical Evidence,

Noting that a study shows that, “When the federal government issues a terrorist warning, presidential approval ratings jump, a Cornell University sociologist finds. Interestingly, terrorist warnings also boost support for the president on issues that are largely irrelevant to terrorism, such as his handling of the economy.”

Posted in 9/11 & Aftermath | 3 Comments

The Tinfoil Meme Is Now Mainstream

When Kevin Drum does the tinfoil thing about the strange object on Bush's back, he does it elegantly. He many only have three pictures, but his pictures have circles and lines (no arrows, alas).

Want more? Try the Bush bulge photo gallery

You know if this were Clinton, Gore or Kerry, the right-wing blogs and the radio (alleged) felons/drug abusers and the cable (alleged) sex perverts would be baying for an investigation. I still can't quite shake the feeling that this is much ado about nothing, but the strange thing is that the White House is acting guilty. A super-smart Rovian trick to distract? Is he that clever?

Update: This device (via Kevin Drum) fits the pictoral and circumstantial (no doctor's report this year) evidence all too well.

Can you imagine what would happen if voters knew that both parts of the ticket had wonky (but not Wonkette-y) tickers? Who would vote GOP knowing there was a risk of getting President Dennis Hastert?

Posted in Politics: Tinfoil | 4 Comments