Obama Administration appeals decision on Bagram

kidflash2008 · 04-14-2009, 10:05 AM

The Obama Administration has appealed a federal court's decision to let POWs caught by American troops and sent to the little known prison in Bagram have habeas corpus rights.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#30199691

I do not know why they are for denying the rights of these prisoners, as they are in the same black hole as the prisoners of Gitmo.

The good news about this is at least the Supreme Court will rule on whether all POWs caught by American troops have the same rights, regardless of where they are sent. Many of these prisoners have been held for more than seven years, with nowhere to appeal and at least get a just hearing.

While I am very disappointed with the Obama Administration on this one, I do hope the Supreme Court will do the right thing and give these people their day in court.

Mingus · 04-14-2009, 12:13 PM

You know, I just realized that Obama could be appealing everything because it's the only way to make it to the Supreme Court where the Court can make a definitive ruling that provides a benchmark for national security issues.Technically, when we find out a future president is doing similar things that Bush did, we can look at these precedents and possibly impeach him/her.

kidflash2008 · 04-15-2009, 10:57 AM

The most important case that the Supreme Court did not hear was the case of the American who was held without any charges. The Obama Administration decided to charge him in Federal Courts, so as to make any Supreme Court challenge moot.

It has been a mixed bag on this subject so far with the Obama Administration, and this case is under the radar. Not one major news outlet reporting this, except for Rachel Maddow. I do agree with you that the Supreme Court challenge will put it down in the law books as to how these outside detainees are handled.

I think the majority of Americans do not want a president to have the power to arrest and detain anyone indefinitely without any charge or hearing. The Constitution only allows for the repeal of Habeas Corpus during emergencies. Unfortunately, the "war on terror" has been deemed such an emergency with no ending in sight. Very convenient for any person in power to abuse such a thing. The best way to stop this is to put in habeas corpus as an amendment so that it is NEVER suspended.

Mingus · 04-15-2009, 11:30 AM

Well, given the lack of audacity to suspend habeaus corpus prior to the former administration, I would think that this may be enough of a deterrant, although I can't be totally in agreement with that assessment because of the history of the government ignoring federal and constitutional law (see the Civil Rights Act of 1875 [circa 1875-about 1958], 4th amendment [circa 1955-71, 2000-2008], environmental laws [see the lawsuit between former employees of Area 51 and the government]). Like I just said, even constitutional law has been breached.

kidflash2008 · 04-15-2009, 11:53 AM

The past administrations have ignored court rulings and other Constitutional law in the past. That was illegal then and is still illegal now. We need to hold them accountable for such acts against the very people they are elected to serve. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, and there is question on whether he needed to do that even if their was a civil war at the time.

It seems the alternative press and sites such as this one are the only true forms of debate in this country. While I do appreciate what President Obama has done to stop torture, he needs to do much more so that a future president won't declare such emergencies just to hold onto power.

04-14-2009, 10:05 AM	#1
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	Obama Administration appeals decision on Bagram The Obama Administration has appealed a federal court's decision to let POWs caught by American troops and sent to the little known prison in Bagram have habeas corpus rights. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#30199691 I do not know why they are for denying the rights of these prisoners, as they are in the same black hole as the prisoners of Gitmo. The good news about this is at least the Supreme Court will rule on whether all POWs caught by American troops have the same rights, regardless of where they are sent. Many of these prisoners have been held for more than seven years, with nowhere to appeal and at least get a just hearing. While I am very disappointed with the Obama Administration on this one, I do hope the Supreme Court will do the right thing and give these people their day in court.

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04-14-2009, 12:13 PM	#2
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 325	You know, I just realized that Obama could be appealing everything because it's the only way to make it to the Supreme Court where the Court can make a definitive ruling that provides a benchmark for national security issues.Technically, when we find out a future president is doing similar things that Bush did, we can look at these precedents and possibly impeach him/her.

04-15-2009, 10:57 AM	#3
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	The most important case that the Supreme Court did not hear was the case of the American who was held without any charges. The Obama Administration decided to charge him in Federal Courts, so as to make any Supreme Court challenge moot. It has been a mixed bag on this subject so far with the Obama Administration, and this case is under the radar. Not one major news outlet reporting this, except for Rachel Maddow. I do agree with you that the Supreme Court challenge will put it down in the law books as to how these outside detainees are handled. I think the majority of Americans do not want a president to have the power to arrest and detain anyone indefinitely without any charge or hearing. The Constitution only allows for the repeal of Habeas Corpus during emergencies. Unfortunately, the "war on terror" has been deemed such an emergency with no ending in sight. Very convenient for any person in power to abuse such a thing. The best way to stop this is to put in habeas corpus as an amendment so that it is NEVER suspended.

04-15-2009, 11:30 AM	#4
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 325	Well, given the lack of audacity to suspend habeaus corpus prior to the former administration, I would think that this may be enough of a deterrant, although I can't be totally in agreement with that assessment because of the history of the government ignoring federal and constitutional law (see the Civil Rights Act of 1875 [circa 1875-about 1958], 4th amendment [circa 1955-71, 2000-2008], environmental laws [see the lawsuit between former employees of Area 51 and the government]). Like I just said, even constitutional law has been breached.

04-15-2009, 11:53 AM	#5
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	The past administrations have ignored court rulings and other Constitutional law in the past. That was illegal then and is still illegal now. We need to hold them accountable for such acts against the very people they are elected to serve. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, and there is question on whether he needed to do that even if their was a civil war at the time. It seems the alternative press and sites such as this one are the only true forms of debate in this country. While I do appreciate what President Obama has done to stop torture, he needs to do much more so that a future president won't declare such emergencies just to hold onto power.