What would you expect to find at www.buyathongforfreedom.com?
Not, I would imagine, the Total Information Awareness Gift Shop, but that is what it is. Proceeds to the ACLU. (See the FAQ.)
[This came up in an aside at the Meltdown conference. Yes, we are getting punchy.]
In the Hamdi decision the Supreme Court ruled that US citizen detainees have a right to bring a habeas case to challenge their detention and that they should have access to counsel for it.
Why then is the Bush-Rumsfeld Dept. of Defense, abetted by the Ashroft Justice Dept. refusing to allow a lawyer access to Ali Saleh al-Marri? Is it because he is not a US citizen?
Charleston attorney files motion to see man held as enemy combatant at Naval Brig: Attorney Andy Savage filed a motion in federal court last week demanding to see al-Marri, who has been held without access to family, friends or attorneys.
The US Supreme Court last month ruled it was unconstitutional to hold someone indefinitely and says detainees should be able to challenge their detention.
The motion Savage filed says al-Marri's attorneys asked assistant prosecutor David Salmons about the matter and was told the government could not allow him to see a lawyer. A spokesman for the Justice Department refused comment.
I do not see how Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri's Qatari citizenship will suffice to block his right to a hearing, and to counsel to prepare for it. And I can't imagine any other grounds the government could have for this behavior.
Update: Scrivener's Error says that I am not cynical enough.
Further update: The article I linked to above now says, “Attorney Mark Berman says the Justice Department approved meetings with Ali Seleh al-Marri in a phone call on Tuesday night, and the lawyer expects to meet with al-Marri within two weeks.” That's good.
Last April, I blogged the flap over the Bush administration's attempt to replace the Archivist of the United States, something that looks suspiciously like an attempt to have a hand-picked successor on hand next January, which when the GHW Bush administration papers become potentially open to public viewing. The Washington Post has an article on the issue, which includes a thumbnail of the proposed new Archivist's confirmation hearings. It has to be said that he doesn't sound so bad…although why the Bush people wanted to push out the incumbent early remains very mysterious.
I'm at the PFIR Meltdown Conference.. I'm here to listen and think not blog, so I don't know how many posts I'll do, but there are number of high-quality bloggers here, including:
Oddly, the WiFi access in the conference is slow, but I don't know if that's here or part of today's general internet slowdown.
If you happen to be in New York city this Tuesday, you are invited to Cinewomen presention of a “mini-retrospective” of short films by my friend Eva Saks at the Pioneer Theater as part of a program called “LIFE: WILD, WOOLY & WONDERFUL.” Eva turned her back on a likely career as an academic to become an entertainment lawyer, and then turned her back on that to go to NYU film school.
Recent Bluessky Posts
Jotwell Blenderlaw