‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill Passes Senate 93-7

[Volitzer]

‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill Passes Senate 93-7


Americans completely stripped of all rights under Section 1031

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, December 2, 2011

The Senate last night codified into law the power of the U.S. military to indefinitely detain an American citizen with no charge, no trial and no oversight whatsoever with the passage of S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act.


One amendment that would have specifically blocked the measures from being used against U.S. citizens was voted down and the final bill was passed 93-7.

Another amendment introduced by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein that attempted to bar the provision from being used on American soil, an effort to ensure “the military won’t be roaming our streets looking for suspected terrorists,” also failed, although Feinstein voted in favor of the bill anyway.

Feinstein was able to include a largely symbolic amendment which states that “nothing in the bill changes current law relating to the detention of U.S. citizens and legal aliens,” but this measure is meaningless according to Republican Congressman Justin Amash, a fierce critic of the bill.

“Some have asserted that Sen. Feinstein’s amendment, S Amdt 1456, protects the rights of American citizens and preserves constitutional due process. Unfortunately, it does not. It’s just more cleverly worded nonsense,” Amash wrote on his Facebook page.

Though the White House has threatened to veto the bill, the fact that Obama administration lawyers yesterday reaffirmed their backing for state sponsored assassination of U.S. citizens would suggest otherwise. Not voting for the bill, or in other words upholding the oath to protect the Constitution, has been described over and over again as “political suicide”.

“The bill puts military detention authority on steroids and makes it permanent, American citizens and others are at greater risk of being locked away by the military without charge or trial,” said Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

As Spencer Ackerman highlights, the bill completely violates the sixth amendment in that it allows American citizens to be locked up indefinitely, including in a foreign detention center, without any burden of proof whatsoever. An American merely has to be declared a terrorist and they can be abducted off the streets and never seen again.

“The detention mandate to use indefinite military detention in terrorism cases isn’t limited to foreigners. It’s confusing, because two different sections of the bill seem to contradict each other, but in the judgment of the University of Texas’ Robert Chesney — a nonpartisan authority on military detention — “U.S. citizens are included in the grant of detention authority,” writes Ackerman

http://www.prisonplanet.com/indefinite-detention-bill-passes-senate-93-7.html

[Volitzer]

Senate Bill Would Have Allowed Americans to be Detained Even After They Had Been Found Innocent


Amendment even worse than Section 1031 narrowly defeated

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Friday, December 2, 2011

Forget guilty until proven innocent, this was a case of guilty even after proven innocent.


The Senate last night attempted to pass an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have allowed Americans to be detained even if they had been found not guilty by a trial.

Although the fact that indefinite detention without trial has now been codified into law by way of Section 1031 of the National Defense Authorization Act, an attempt was made at the last minute to fast-track an even more horrifying amendment into the NDAA bill via a voice vote.

Amendment No. 1274 would have given the federal government the power to detain U.S. citizens until Congress declared the ‘war on terror’ over, which we have been told is a never-ending multi-generational conflict. The provision also gave the feds the power to keep an American incarcerated even if they were tried and found not guilty.

Thankfully, Republican Senator Rand Paul discovered the provision and was able to request a last ditch roll call vote. The amendment was eventually defeated by a worryingly narrow final vote of 41-59.

Forget Kafkaesque, the very fact that the Senate even attempted to enact a law that would put the likes of Stalinist North Korea to shame speaks volumes about the contempt that lawmakers have for the bill of rights.

Read the full press release from Campaign For Liberty below.

SPRINGFIELD, Virginia – On Thursday night, Senator Rand Paul blocked passage of an amendment that would have allowed the government to indefinitely detain American citizens until Congress declares the War on Terror to be over. These Americans would be detained even if they were tried and found not guilty.

An attempt was made to pass Amendment No. 1274 to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867) by voice vote, but Senator Paul’s objection and request for a roll call vote ultimately led to the bill’s defeat by a final vote of 41-59.

“Campaign for Liberty is proud to stand with Rand Paul as he continues to fight for our liberties against the federal government’s lust to increase its police state powers,” said Matt Hawes, Vice President of Campaign for Liberty.

“The American people should not be forced to sacrifice their fundamental values, like the right to one’s day in court and fair treatment, just so politicians can keep pretending they are making us safer.

“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture how furious the Founders would be that any American, especially one who has been found innocent of the charges, could be held indefinitely by officials sworn to uphold the Constitution.”

Earlier this year, Campaign for Liberty worked with Senator Paul to combat the extension of controversial provisions of the Patriot Act and the IRTPA, and the organization will continue mobilizing its over half a million members to support such efforts to defend the American people’s civil liberties.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/senate-bill-would-have-allowed-americans-to-be-detained-even-after-they-had-been-found-innocent.html

[Volitzer]

Paul Craig Roberts: Congress is Repealing the Constitution


RT
December 2, 2011

There is a bill in the Senate that is attempting to keep torture alive as an interrogation technique. The National Defense Authorization Act is being debated in Congress and if passed, American citizens could be detained without a court hearing anywhere in the world. President Obama stated he will veto the bill if it should pass. Is Senate Bill 1867 threatening the US constitution? Paul Craig Roberts, former Reagan administration official and columnist, gives us his take on the proposed bill.

See video...

http://www.prisonplanet.com/paul-craig-roberts-congress-is-repealing-the-constitution.html