ACLU Condemns Court for Keeping Details of Obama’s Assassination Program Secret

[Hissyspit]

Source: Raw Story

ACLU condemns court for keeping details of Obama’s assassination program secret

By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, January 2, 2013 15:58 EST

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Wednesday that it was saddened by a New York’s judge’s decision to keep secret most details pertaining to an Obama administration program that has so far assassinated three American citizens, including one who was not accused of being involved with terrorism.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the ACLU, seeking to determine the administration’s legal justification for killing American citizens without charge or trial, was shot down Wednesday (PDF) by the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. The court ruled in favor of the administration’s motion for summary judgement on the basis that deliberations over the program were privileged communications, and the ACLU failed to show why they should be exposed to the public.

The three Americans killed by the military’s anti-terrorist strikes are Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, and Al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son Abdulrahman.

“This ruling denies the public access to crucial information about the government’s extrajudicial killing of U.S. citizens and also effectively green-lights its practice of making selective and self-serving disclosures,” ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said in an advisory.

“As the judge acknowledges, the targeted killing program raises profound questions about the appropriate limits on government power in our constitutional democracy,” Jaffer added. “The public has a right to know more about the circumstances in which the government believes it can lawfully kill people, including U.S. citizens, who are far from any battlefield and have never been charged with a crime.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/02/aclu-condemns-court-for-keeping-details-of-obamas-assassination-program-secret

[GeorgeGist]

1. In other words ...

phuck the Constitution.

[xoom]

4. The what??

[bunnies]

2. Whats this? Assassination program? WTF?

How did I NOT know this? WTF? I have some reading to do...

[bananas]

6. It was reported on by NYT, Washington Post, Democracy Now, Salon.com, and many other news sites.

It was even in political cartoons.
Can't imagine why you didn't hear about it!
You'll find some links in these threads:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=437x3870

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1652455&mesg_id=1653576

[bunnies]

18. Jeebus. I must be livin under a rock.

*hangs head* Thanks for the links.

[kath]

7. Here's some good reading on how Obama is shredding the Constitution. Read it and weep.

(Sadly, I don't know how to copy and paste links on this damned IPad) Article is on Truthout, title "John Cusack interviews law professor Jonathan Turley about Obama administration's war on the Constitution"
Not just shredding the Constitution but also violating international law and Nuremberg principals. Lovely.

[bunnies]

19. ugh.

Thanks for the info. I think. *sigh*

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[FiveGoodMen]

5. "including one [US citizen] who was not accused of being involved with terrorism"

How the hell are people okay with this???!!!

[Jefferson23]

8. Priviledged communications upheld; ACLU failed to show why they should be exposed to the public.

ACLU, please go back and try again.


This has always been beyond disgusting.

[Jefferson23]

9. kick n/t

[thebard77]

10. I wish more people would pay attention to this issue.

When people say that they love Obama and they love their president, I often wonder if they are aware of this. If they are aware of this and don't care well then they support using the bill of rights as toilet paper. I only voted for congressional and local candidates this past November because honestly, I can't get past a president using his authority to kill American citizens without due process. THere was no way in hell that I was going to vote for Romney so there was no Obama support from me. I realize that my single vote is meaningless in the grand scheme of things but it allows me to hold some shred of dignity. I will not support any politician that hides behind unconstitutional laws such as NDAA and the Patriot Act to act as judge, jury and executioner in the form of a drone strike.

[msanthrope]

11. Justice McMahon kicked some pretty serious butt in that ruling. The NYT made a better case than

the ACLU, that much is clear, but they aren't getting the Koh memo.


Clinton appointee, put forward by Senator Moynihan.

[blkmusclmachine]

12. They COULD tell you, but then they'd have to kill you.

A Police State answers to no one.

.
Operation Northwoods: The 9/11 You Never Knew

[DeSwiss]

14. This. n/t

[triplepoint]

13. Can You Smell the Fascism Yet?

Obsession with National Security (#7 of "The 14 Characteristics of Fascism&quot :

"Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. It was usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints. Its actions were justified under the rubric of protecting “national security,” and questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous."
.
.
.
*Reference Link:
"Fascism Anyone?" by Laurence W. Britt
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=britt_23_2

[DeSwiss]

15. K&R

"Americans like to talk about Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an 'inconvenience.' We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there." ~ Frank Zappa

- That pretty much covers it Frank.........

[davidpdx]

16. Were they in the Middle East or in the US

they said the people were not near any battlefield. What is the definition of a battlefield? Could they be in Afghanistan or Pakistan and still be considered not in a battlefield? What about other parts of the Middle East?