NP: Alienation and Sedition Act?

[Ian Livingston]

The language is ambiguous. Lawyers love ambiguous language precisely
because it is so easily manipulated. I agree with Obama on this one,
that to err on the side of caution is the preferred action. Better not
to allow the language in such a bill.

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 9:28 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/detainee_policy_gone_horribly033822.php
>
>
> On Tuesday 60 members of the United States Senate voted to preserve a
> provision in the National Defense Authorization Act — that would be
> the bill that funds the Pentagon — allowing the U.S. military to pick
> up and detain, without charges or trial, anyone suspected of
> terrorism, including American citizens, and to restrict transfers of
> prisoners out of Guantanamo Bay. Specifically, 60 senators voted
> against an amendment that would have invalidated the part of the bill
> which empowers the president and the military to detain anyone they
> suspect was involved in the 9/11 attacks or supports al-Qaida, the
> Taliban, or “associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against
> the United States or its coalition partners.”
>
> President Obama has said he will veto the larger bill if the detainee
> provision remains intact, but that hasn’t been enough to sway the
> Senate.
>
> Just 38 senators did the right thing when the measure reached the
> Senate floor. One of them was Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who explained
> to his colleagues just how significant this step is.
>
> ” [W]hat we are talking about here is that Americans could be
> subjected to life imprisonment. Think about that for a minute. Life
> imprisonment. Without ever being charged, tried, or convicted of a
> crime. Without ever having an opportunity to prove your innocence to a
> judge or a jury of your peers. And without the government ever having
> to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I think that denigrates
> the very foundations of this country.”



-- 
"Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant