Comments on: Trial by news conference

Trial by news conference

mrgrimm — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:19:03 -0800

Laywer/novelist Scott Turow (non-wp, non-reg-req. link) and Nat Hentoff discuss the DOJ's decision to release a declassified document detailing the possible charges against Jose Padilla, at the same time as the U.S. Supreme Court nears a decision on the constitutionality of holding Padilla without due process ... "So at this point, you have no plans to present any of this to a grand jury?"

By: daveg

daveg — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:35:24 -0800

So, if Mr Kerry wins the election at the end of the year, he can have GW arrested, declare him an enemy combatant and then GW will have to spend the rest of his life locked up (or until one of his brothers gets to be president) ? Land of the Free ? ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ...

By: homunculus

homunculus — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:42:05 -0800

The Justice Department's triumphant victory over the Constitution. "No one at the DOJ seems even to have pondered whether the public would credulously accept the truth of a document that—by its own admission—is a product of secret government interrogations. The lesson of Abu Ghraib was that we no longer trust what happens in dark dungeons, where the rule of law has been cast aside. To reassure us, the Justice Department responds with the assurance that no one there trusts what happens in the bright light of a constitutional democracy."

By: banished

banished — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:15:22 -0800

This is why I love metafilter. I just got done reading Scott Turow's book, One L the other day. It was a captivating book, I read straight through it. For anyone considering law school, I would highly recommend it. Great post.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:24:18 -0800

Paul Krugman: "John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history."

By: damnitkage

damnitkage — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 14:51:01 -0800

"No one at the DOJ seems even to have pondered whether the public would credulously accept the truth of a document that—by its own admission—is a product of secret government interrogations" Does anyone think that the public really cares about this? Does anyone think that Joe Sixpack in Moberly, MO gives a fuck? No. The majority of the public will believe what they are presented with and what they are told to believe as most are just too goddamn lazy to read any other sources. I say we just pull the constitution now and get it the hell over with.

By: sacre_bleu

sacre_bleu — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 15:15:57 -0800

At least now torturing him is perfectly legal. So, whatever they had to do to get him to say he was al Qaeda, it was part and parcel of American democracy. What a relief.

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 19:28:17 -0800

Banished, I agree and would go so far as to say that it's his best book, all the rest are legal boilerplate fiction except possibly Presumed Innocent. But then that was tortured on film, so who cares?

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 19:53:03 -0800

Paul Krugman: "John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history." Merle Haggard and John Derbyshire of the National Review have long been on the same page--rhetorically speaking, that is.