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| US must release names of those arrested after September 11 |
| 2002-08-03 |
| The Justice Department "shall disclose within 15 days the names of those it has arrested and detained in connection with its September 11, 2001 terrorist investigation," Judge Gladys Kessler ruled on Friday. Most of the suspects are being held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Thought Club Fed was for al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees? The department must also disclose the names of the detainees' attorneys within the same time frame, Kessler decided. "The court fully understands ... the first priority of the executive branch in a time of crisis is to ensure the physical security of its citizens. By the same token, the first priority of the judicial branch must to be to ensure that our government always operates within the statutory and constitutional constraints which distinguish a democracy from a dictatorship," Kessler said in her ruling. For people detained within the United States, that makes sense. For those detained in military operations it doesn't... The judge made two exceptions in her ruling, allowing officials to honor the request of detainees who wish to remain anonymous, and enabling the department to keep secret the dates and places of the detainees' arrest. "They said they all desire to remain anonymous, yer honor..." Secret arrests are "a concept odious to a democratic society and profoundly antithetical to the bedrock values that characterize a free and open one such as ours" Kessler said. I agree with that. The names of people suspected of colluding with the enemies of this country should be a matter of public record: their names, their addresses, and the reasons they were detained. Their neighbors should know where they live, so they can defend themselves against them if need be. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Kessler's a pretty good candidate for "dumbest federal judge," so this may not stand up long. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-08-03 16:43:32 |
| #1 I think the yahoo news site is wrong about the Gitmo detainees. I had already read the stories in the Washington Times , and our local Knight Ridder rag. After I read the above, I checked the WaPo story. None of them mention the Gitmo thugs. The KnightRidder story says, "The court order gives the Justice Department 15 days to release the names of 715 people detained on immigration charges, and 129 who were detained on criminal charges, all in connection with the September 11 investigation." The story is here: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/3791290.htm |
| Posted by: Ray 2002-08-03 12:42:33 |