WASHINGTON -- Bush
administration asserted sweeping new police powers over the American
people. In a legal brief filed with a federal appellate court, the
Department of Justice asserted that Yaser Esam Hamdi, who is an American
citizen, can be held incommunicado on a military installation as an
"enemy combatant." A lower court ruled that Hamdi should have
access to an attorney, and the Justice Dept. appealed that ruling to the
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Timothy Lynch, director of the Cato
Institute's Project on Criminal Justice had the following comments on the
issue:
"The implications of
the federal government's brief go far beyond the Hamdi matter. The Bush
administration has now asserted that (a) citizens can be taken into
custody as enemy combatants; (b) that, beyond such battlefield detainees,
citizens can also be taken off the streets of any American town; and (c)
that civilian courts cannot intervene to inquire into the legality of such
arrests and detentions. When these propositions are taken together as a
whole, the implications are very disturbing.
"The bottom line is
that President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft are attempting to
suspend the 'Great Writ' of habeas corpus, which allows Americans to get
into a court of law to challenge the legality of their arrest and to have
their liberty restored if the court agrees that the arrest was unlawful.
Without judicial review, the police can arrest people without warrants and
jail people without trials.
"The controversial
'military order' that Bush issued last November has, in effect, now been
extended to American citizens--and the writ of habeas corpus is now under
assault. President Bush seems to believe that his commander-in-chief power
gives him the authority to ignore every other part of the Constitution
when he deems it necessary. The president is profoundly mistaken about
that -- and the judiciary should resist this power grab."
Lynch is the author of
the new Cato Institute report, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle:
Preserving Our Liberties While Fighting Terrorism." http://www.cato.org/new/06-02/06-20-02r.html
© Albert V. Burns - All Rights Reserved
