US to seek dismissal of Guantanamo cases

[Judi Lynn]

Last Update: Wednesday, January 4, 2006. 11:25am (AEDT)

US to seek dismissal of Guantanamo cases

The US Justice Department will seek to stop more than 180 Guantanamo Bay inmates from pursuing court challenges against their detention.

The department has informed judges presiding over the cases in the US District Court in Washington it will file official motions to dismiss the cases next week.

The development comes a week after President George W Bush signed new legislation curbing Guantanamo Bay prisoners' abilities to challenge their detention in Federal Court.

The law also bans cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners in US custody, despite originally being opposed by the White House.
(snip/...)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1541579.htm

[Betsy Ross]

1. Signed legislation?

King George waves his scepter and it is so.

[TomInTib]

2. So the US got "limbo" when the Vatican gave it up.

In essence, it appears the detainees may lose their right to grievance but will more than likely (2% chance) never be charged with ANYTHING.

[mom cat]

8. And never be released or ever know why they are there.

The puppet master is just testing the system before going after you and me.

[justabob]

17. Its worse than that

even if they are charged and stand trial AND are acquitted the admin will hold them. I read somewhere that is what they are going to do to Padilla. If they are willing to do it to a US citizen, they definitely have no problem holding foreign detainees "in perpetuity".

[enough]

3. I did not know that law curtailed prisoners' rights (such as they were).

snip>

The bill limits prisoners from going to lower-level civilian courts for relief from confinement in a concession to the White House.

They can only go to an appeals court once they have gone through a military court process.

snip>

Only nine of about 500 prisoners being held at the base have been charged.

snip>

Hundreds of prisoners have filed lawsuits in civilian courts to protest their confinement or to protest conditions of confinement.

snip>

[NanceGreggs]

4. Release all Gitmo prisoners NOW ...

... replace them with Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Rice, and the rest of the 'gang'.

No point in letter perfectly good prison space go to waste ....

[Rex]

5. Sorry suspected terrorist peopleses.

All that stuff you heard about America being the land of the free...bullshit. It's only free to a certain (the 1%ers) percentile of the American population, everyone else is a serf! Welcome to democracy, suckers!

[NashVegas]

6. U.S. to Seek Dismissal of Guantánamo Suits

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/politics/04gitmo.html

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - The Bush administration notified federal trial judges in Washington that it would soon ask them to dismiss all lawsuits brought by prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, challenging their detentions, Justice Department officials said Tuesday.

The action means that the administration is moving swiftly to take advantage of an amendment to the military bill that President Bush signed into law last Friday. The amendment strips federal courts from hearing habeas corpus petitions from Guantánamo detainees.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department sent notices to all the federal judges in Washington who have cases involving challenges brought by Guantánamo inmates, informing them of the new amendment. The officials said the department would file formal notices within several days asking the judges to dismiss more than 160 cases involving at least 300 detainees.

[madeline_con]

7. I hate the asshole and all his cronies!!!

:mad: :nuke:

[HuffleClaw]

9. erm, what a slimy tactic

but i doubt it'll work, the cases were in 'play' before the legislation.

[papau]

10. U.S. to Seek Dismissal of Guantánamo Suits (no court review)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/politics/04gitmo.html
January 4, 2006
U.S. to Seek Dismissal of Guantánamo Suits
By NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - The Bush administration notified federal trial judges in Washington that it would soon ask them to dismiss all lawsuits brought by prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, challenging their detentions, Justice Department officials said Tuesday.

<snip>In addition to arguing in court, the administration separately pressed its case in Congress and found a strong ally in Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who said the challenges brought by Guantánamo inmates were frivolous and were clogging the courts. Mr. Graham, along with Senators Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, and Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, sponsored the amendment to the Defense Act eliminating habeas corpus jurisdiction in federal courts.

The amendment instead allows the District of Columbia appellate court to review the results of military tribunals at Guantánamo in which the prisoners were found to have been properly deemed imprisoned as enemy combatants.

Administration critics have complained that the tribunals at Guantánamo, in which panels of three officers decide whether a prisoner is an enemy combatant, are unfair in several respects. The prisoners are not represented by lawyers and they often may not see evidence used against them for national security reasons.

<snip>The Justice Department requests asking the district judges to dismiss all the habeas corpus petitions are expected to be challenged by lawyers for the detainees, making it likely that the issue will be resolved by the appeals court or the Supreme Court.
Although the courts and Congress are co-equal branches of government, the Constitution allows Congress to define the scope of jurisdiction for all federal courts below the Supreme Court.

[OKNancy]

11. kick

:-)

[MadHound]

12. Government Asks for Dismissal of Guantanamo Cases

(snip)"The Justice Department says it will ask that all pending lawsuits filed in federal court by Guantanamo detainees be dismissed. The department claims its authority to do so comes from an amendment to the military spending bill that President Bush recently signed into law."(snip)
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5127938>

The goddamn arrogance of these people! Once again they think that they are above the law, and that the rule of law does not apply to them. If things get to dicey, they simply declare the lawsuits null and void:grr: Further into the piece it is stated that the detainees will still have access to a military review panel, like that will really dispense justice:eyes:

Slipping further and further into fascism folks.

[HereSince1628]

13. The dictatorship steps a little further away from the curtain everyday

Soon the country will find it fully out in the open and not be shocked by its presence at all.

They said it couldn't happen here...right.

[soothsayer]

14. Hopefully will be found unconstitutional. While we still have the

Constitution, that is

[justabob]

15. further and further indeed

I think it was just last year that SCOTUS said that the detainees had a right to be heard in US courts, as opposed to only being heard at the military tribunals. When I heard about this new development, I thought, why would they do that since the SCOTUS ruled on this so recently.... then it occured to me. New justices, new court.... probably a new ruling. It was quite the reality check.

[MadHound]

16. Yep, you got it.

This is why Roberts was rammed through as Chief Justice, and Alito is being crammed down right after him. Pack the court, and the Bushies will be able to get away with all of their BS. Time to write our reps and scream this from the hilltop, for what applies in this case will soon be used as precedent for other cases against Bushco.