Sixty-six percent of terrorists tried in military tribunals have been released.  Ninety percent of terrorist tried in federal courts have been convicted and remain behind bars.  Please explain to us the logic for trying terrorist in military tribunals as opposed to civilian courts?

Sen. Lindsey Graham went to Rahm Emmanuel last week attempting to obtain a compromise from the White House in which it agrees to try all terrorists in military commissions and he agrees to support the closure of Guantanamo. ?????????  We thought that decisions about where to hold trials were the Attorney General’s decision to make.  Further, this appears to be trap that hopefully the Obama administration will not fall for.  One terrorist released on this administration’s watch and the Republican party has its campaign issue for 2012. 

Funny how the outrage is conveniently directed at the current administration when the last administration tried three hundred terrorists in federal courts without so much as a peep from the Lindsey Grahams of the world.  All of sudden it is imperative that terrorists only be tried in military tribunals. Given the GOP’s track record for hypocrisy it would not be surprising to most that if Obama supported trying all terrorists in military commissions Republicans would be screaming that all terrorists must be tried in federal courts and trying them in military tribunals is jeopardizing our national security.

Terrorist trials conducted to date reveal that the federal court is a better forum and reaps better results.  Over 300 terrorists  were tried in federal courts and are still behind bars.  Three terrorists tried in the non Supreme Court tested, opponents argue that it is a violation of the Constitution to use military tribunals without a declaration of war,  military tribunals.  You see George W. Bush only received an Authorization for Use of Military Force from Congress not an actual “declaration of war.”  Simply calling it a “war” on terror for political gain does not count.  Again, three terrorists tried in non Supreme Court tested military tribunals two of which have been released.  Osama bin Laden’s driver got less than six years after being tried in a military tribunal.  Nuff Said.

The Department of Justice has concluded that Georgia’s “voter verification process” erroneously target legal citizens of the United States [minorities] who are registering to vote and is thereby “seriously flawed.”  The state of Georgia contends that its “voter verification process” was developed and is now employed in compliance with the Help America Vote Act, HAVA.  DOJ disagrees.  In fact, DOJ explains in its opinion letter that HAVA pertains to “voter identification” and not “voter eligibility” thus making Georgia’s interpretation and implementation of its “citizenship verification process” in noncompliance with the Act.

In addition, DOJ elucidated in it’s opinion letter, “applicants who are Hispanic, Asian, or African American are more likely than white applicants, to statistically significant degrees, to be flagged for additional scrutiny” through the “verification process.” The investigation further revealed that ”African Americans comprised a majority of the registrants flagged…”  For example, May 2008 through March 2009 African-Americans and whites registered to vote in equal numbers yet sixty percent more African-Americans than whites were flagged for further inquiry and were required to take an additional step/steps to complete their voter registration.  Hispanics and Asians were twice as likely to be flagged than whites.  According to DOJ, the “verification process” imposes extra steps on minority registrants thus putting an undue burden on such voters and thereby must be discontinued by the state of Georgia. 

Unbelievable!

Representative John Lewis released the following statements regarding DOJ’s decision:

I agree with the Department of Justice,” said Rep. John Lewis.  “The citizenship verification process of the state of Georgia violates both the spirit and the letter of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  This was an attempt to take us back to another dark period in our history when people were denied access to the ballot box simply because of their race or nationality.  It seemed to me then and it is clear to me now that this was a “modern-day” poll tax as one judge put it, designed to harass and intimidate minority voters. 

The DOJ has made a fair and accurate decision. I hope that this decision helps the Supreme Court Justices see the importance of Section 5 in protecting the right to vote for some citizens.  Without the ability to challenge this process through the Voting Rights Act, tens of thousands of Georgia voters would be denied the right to vote.  The burden would be placed on average working citizens to file a lawsuit and prove that the Georgia system is discriminatory. This could take years.  In the meantime, injustice would be the law of the land

See full DOJ letter here

Things are not looking good for former embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and after all the trouble he’s having trying to find a job.  According to documents obtained by the ACLU, Gonzales approved use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” against Abu Zubaydah as White House Counsel four months prior to a request to the Justice department for its opinion.  Zubaydah was captured at the end of March in 2002 but the first memo from DOJ is dated August 1, 2002.  Gonzales has cockily said that he does not believe that Attorney General Eric Holder will prosecute him.  Take a look at his justification.

“I don’t think that there’s going to be a prosecution, quite frankly.” Gonzales said. “Because again, these activities … They were authorized, they were supported by legal opinions at the Department of Justice.”

Holder “will have to make a decision as to whether or not move forward with an investigation or a prosecution,” Gonzales said. “But under those circumstances, I find it hard to believe.”

Well there goes his defense that he was just following DOJ’s advice.  One would guess that when Gonzales made the above statement back in January he was not counting on public discovery that he authorized the use of torture techniques months before the DOJ opinions were rendered.  Very interesting.

So instead of following legal opinion Gonzales was relying on his political bosses and his own warped beyond recognition interpretation of the Convention Against Torture.  Considering the fact that disbarment is on the table for attorneys involved in the authorization of torture, Gonzalez’s employment prospects just dropped significantly.  See more of the story regarding the secret authorizations from the Bush White House below.

One source with knowledge of Zubaydah’s interrogations agreed to describe the legal guidance process, on the condition of anonymity.

The source says nearly every day, Mitchell would sit at his computer and write a top-secret cable to the CIA’s counterterrorism center. Each day, Mitchell would request permission to use enhanced interrogation techniques on Zubaydah. The source says the CIA would then forward the request to the White House, where White House counsel Alberto Gonzales would sign off on the technique. That would provide the administration’s legal blessing for Mitchell to increase the pressure on Zubaydah in the next interrogation.

A new document is consistent with the source’s account.

The CIA sent the ACLU a spreadsheet late Tuesday as part of a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. The log shows the number of top-secret cables that went from Zubaydah’s black site prison to CIA headquarters each day. Through the spring and summer of 2002, the log shows, someone sent headquarters several cables a day.

See full article at NPR here

There has been a bit of a stir in the main stream media about the comments by Attorney General Eric Holder commemorating Black History Month.  Many say that Holder’s comments should have been more upliftig in light of the fact that we just elected the first African-American President and now have the first African-American Attorney General.  To those folks I say….black history is just that, black history.  It encompasses a chronicle of all events and African-American experiences in our history not just the good.  Many of Mr. Holder’s comments were provocative but they were meant to be in order to initiate a dialogue about certain aspects of the American experience that still needs perfecting.  Read the Attorney General’s entire speech below and decide for yourself if it rings true for you.  If it does, make a conscious choice to either do or not do something about it instead of continuing the passive status quo existence that many of us live in our ability to go along to get along.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery Attorney General Eric Holder at the Department of Justice African American History Program

Every year, in February, we attempt to recognize and to appreciate black history. It is a worthwhile endeavor for the contributions of African Americans to this great nation are numerous and significant. Even as we fight a war against terrorism, deal with the reality of electing an African American as our President for the first time and deal with the other significant issues of the day, the need to confront our racial past, and our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country, endures. One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. Simply put, to get to the heart of this country one must examine its racial soul.

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. Though race related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race. It is an issue we have never been at ease with and given our nation’s history this is in some ways understandable. And yet, if we are to make progress in this area we must feel comfortable enough with one another, and tolerant enough of each other, to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us. But we must do more- and we in this room bear a special responsibility. Through its work and through its example this Department of Justice, as long as I am here, must – and will – lead the nation to the “new birth of freedom” so long ago promised by our greatest President. This is our duty and our solemn obligation. Read the rest of this entry »