Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Government Must Justify Guantanamo Detention Next Week

AP reports that the legal sparring over the merits of the Guantanamo detentions is heating up:

A federal judge ordered the Bush administration on Thursday to explain its detention of a Libyan at a U.S. military prison in Cuba by next week, the first such demand since the Supreme Court ruled in June that foreign detainees can use American courts to challenge their confinement.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton set a deadline of next Tuesday for the government to lay out why he should not order the release of Salim Gherebi, who is among nearly 600 men from about 40 countries who have been held with little or no contact with the outside for two years or more.

A case filed on Gherebi's behalf was already pending at the Supreme Court when the justices decided 6-3 to allow U.S. judges to hear detainee lawsuits.

The high court sent the case back to California, where it was filed, and the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals transferred it to Walton's court earlier this month.

In a brief order, Walton said that if government lawyers cannot meet the Tuesday night deadline or are concerned about “revealing classified information that might jeopardize national security,” they can request more time. The judge said he must be told by Friday if the government will seek to have the case dismissed.

Walton said military officers should not try to persuade Gherebi, who was captured in Afghanistan, to waive his legal rights in the meantime.

… Walton was named to the bench by President Bush.

A case to watch!

Posted in Guantanamo | 4 Comments

Best Insight on Kerry Speech

The most original insight I've encountered on Kerry's speech was something I heard in the car this morning, one of the commentators on the Diane Rehm show, who said that Kerry's speech was set up to portray him as a sort of national daddy, the steady calm presence presiding over a bunch of smaller, noisier figures. This plays to his strengths, and even harnesses his physical size, as he towered over John Edwards.

It's an interesting thought. Alas, I have no idea who was speaking, whether it was James Fallows, Stephen Hayes, or Frank Sesno. I doubt it was Hayes, though.

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | Comments Off on Best Insight on Kerry Speech

Ducking Iraq?

Matthew Yglesias raps Kerry's speech because it doesn't describe an Iraq strategy. This has to be the most unfair critique I ever heard of.

1. Bush has not mapped an exit strategy.

2. Events are very fluid. Any statement now is likely to be overtaken by events, resulting in charges of shifting position if the postion needs to shift.

3. Kerry's strategy is known to be the 'pottery barn' view of once you are in you are sort of stuck, but he'd like to internationalize the foreign presence. At this point there is little he could reasonably add. If you need more, read Juan Cole.

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | 2 Comments

Making A Stronger Wiki

Wikis are a great idea, but they are clearly vulnerable to bad actors. If there is a large community supporting the Wiki, it can have social antibodies against 'bad' content. But wiki architecture is also open to mechanized attacks, and those can be overwhelming. What to do. One lightweight but potentially effective answer comes out of today's Slashdot interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. [link fixed]

Continue reading

Posted in Internet | 2 Comments

For the Civil Libertarian In Your Life

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.]

Posted in Law: Privacy | Comments Off on For the Civil Libertarian In Your Life

Bush, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft Resist Application of US Supreme Court Detainee Decision

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.

Posted in Civil Liberties | 2 Comments