Supreme Court to decide Ashcroft, Mueller immunity

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story



Supreme Court to decide Ashcroft, Mueller immunity
Agence France-Presse
Published: Wednesday December 10, 2008

The US Supreme Court will hear a case Wednesday on whether cabinet-level officials could be held accountable for controversial tactics President George W. Bush ordered as part of the US-led "war on terror."

Former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller have sought immunity from the charges in a lawsuit filed by Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani national.

Iqbal was among more than 700 Arab and South Asian Muslim men from the New York City area rounded up after the September 11, 2001 attacks. While they were all eventually charged with immigration violations or minor crimes, none was linked to terrorism.

In his lawsuit, Iqbal alleges that Ashcroft and Mueller targeted the men for investigation and punitive detention, sidestepping procedural protections usually granted to such detainees.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Supreme_Court_to_decide_Ashcroft_Mueller_1210.html

[Montauk6]

1. "Let the indictments so-o-o-o-o-ar, like they've NEVER soared befo-o-o-ore..."

[bertman]

5. Sing it Brother!!! Somebody give me an Amen!!

:rofl:

[No Elephants]

2. The article indicates that all detainees were foreign nationals, not citizens. I say that, not to

suggest that mistreating people within our borders is okay, as long as they are not citizens. I say that only to indicate that the legal issues are different than they would be if the Bill of Rights clearly applied.

[Pab Sungenis]

3. Prepare for a 20th Century version of "Dred Scott v. Sandford."

"Furriners ain't people under the law. Next."

What more could we suspect from the Roberts Court?

[catnhatnh]

4. Yes....

but are they 3/5 of a people???

[Xipe Totec]

6. No PERSON shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime,

Notice, the fifth amendment applies to all persons, not just citizens.

[Thorandmjolnir]

9. Not true

Foreign nationals legally in this country, detained on US soil enjoy the same Bill of Rights, civil rights laws and protections as any citizen.

[No Elephants]

16. Have a citation for that (other than the 1886 Wick case on the 14th Amendment?) The Supreme Court

recently (2008) wrote a 70 page opinion to justifiy holding that aliens are entitle to the right of habeas corpus, so I wonder if it is as cut and dried as your post implies.

[Piewhacket]

10. With respect, we are a nation of laws, not men...

ALL PERSONS on US soil
and otherwise in custody of the US are subject to US law and entitled to the individual rights
secured by the US Constitution. Those rights are a limitation on the legitimacy of
government to act, not some magnanimous gesture bestowed on lesser
beings by a benevolent tyrant.

Those in custody of military forces during times of hostilities are, by necessity only,
temporarily subject to legal exceptions, but are nonetheless subject to US law, including
treaties, such as the Geneva accords.

Everything else is a criminal enterprise run by a corrupt gang pretending to be the
legitimate government. Those participating in such illegal enterprise present a grave
and imminent threat to the nation and mankind's security and should be rounded up, tried
under law, and exonerated if not guilty, and executed or imprisoned otherwise.

That's my official position, and I'm sticking to it to the last flippin breath.
Join me, every person, whether citizen of the US or citizen of the world, for whom the idea
America lives as a beacon of hope against injustice and tyranny. Join me.

For I am here, standing at freedom's bridge in defense of America's promise of liberty and
justice for all. I will wait here, opposing every foe, to the last, even if I must stand
alone as quixotic figure with rusty sword and dented helm. I will stand. I must.

There is but one question, and it is not for me to ponder or answer, for my road is fixed.
WILL I STAND ALONE?

[Libertyfirst]

11. I'm no longer good for much but cannon fodder, so save me a place. n/t

[Piewhacket]

15. So now we are Two.

I'll take the foe to the right, you the left.
First one done helps the other.
When all foe have been defeated, we go for beer.

Simple plans are best, yes?

[EFerrari]

7. Some of those detainees were abused and tortured.

A group of them alleged torture and their lawyers found a bunch of taped sessions of abuse at the facility where they were held.

[Doctor_J]

8. Hmm...I wonder how this will come out

:eyes:

[GodlessBiker]

12. International law would apply even if SCOTUS says US law does not.

If I were Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, etc., I would not do much international travel. They are likely to be arrested.

[russspeakeasy]

13. I think "pretends to decide" might more accurately

describe their posing...

[lovuian]

14. I want the Supreme Courts signature on this too

lets expose all of them