Shut Up! Shut Up! Shut Up! Cut Her Mic!
For those naive enough to be laboring under the delusion that the Obama administration's Department of Justice is any different than the Bush administration's, allow me to disabuse you of that misconception.
Candace Gorman, one of the saintly lawyers representing those being held at the Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp, has just been slapped around by the Department of Justice. Here's the latest in the saga of her representation of Al-Ghizzawi, a man who even the government admits was mistakenly swept up during the fervor of the GWOT. Go read her post. Now. I'll wait.
So, there you have it. It isn't bad enough that Mr. Al-Ghizzawi has been held illegally for years, that he's ill and desperately needs medical attention, that he's been cleared for release, so therefore isn't entitled to the relief of habeas corpus, now his attorney has been told she doesn't have any right to publicize the case by referring to a legal document that was unclassified by the DOJ. Of course, the DOJ has now decided it screwed up, so Ms. Gorman, and only Ms. Gorman has to stop talking about this latest travesty.
This isn't about national security, this is about a government agency which has decided to apply a little discipline to a gadfly who happens to believe in the legal system this nation brags about constantly, except when it's inconvenient.
Thanks to The Talking Dog, the information contained in the post Ms. Gorman was forced to take down is still available. Also thanks to The Talking Dog, Ms. Gorman's Writ for Habeas Corpus (her second, a highly unusual circumstance), is available in PDF format.
For those of you who blog, I urge you to post on this incredibly abusive behavior by the Department of Justice. For those of you who don't, I urge you to ask your elected representatives to look into this unconscionable behavior by the Holder DOJ. Acknowledge that they are busy with this whole Health Care Reform issue, but point out that another basic right, that of free speech, is also important, at least in a real democracy.
It's time we stop cutting this administration any slack. It's abused the slack we've given for the past ten months.
Candace Gorman, one of the saintly lawyers representing those being held at the Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp, has just been slapped around by the Department of Justice. Here's the latest in the saga of her representation of Al-Ghizzawi, a man who even the government admits was mistakenly swept up during the fervor of the GWOT. Go read her post. Now. I'll wait.
So, there you have it. It isn't bad enough that Mr. Al-Ghizzawi has been held illegally for years, that he's ill and desperately needs medical attention, that he's been cleared for release, so therefore isn't entitled to the relief of habeas corpus, now his attorney has been told she doesn't have any right to publicize the case by referring to a legal document that was unclassified by the DOJ. Of course, the DOJ has now decided it screwed up, so Ms. Gorman, and only Ms. Gorman has to stop talking about this latest travesty.
This isn't about national security, this is about a government agency which has decided to apply a little discipline to a gadfly who happens to believe in the legal system this nation brags about constantly, except when it's inconvenient.
Thanks to The Talking Dog, the information contained in the post Ms. Gorman was forced to take down is still available. Also thanks to The Talking Dog, Ms. Gorman's Writ for Habeas Corpus (her second, a highly unusual circumstance), is available in PDF format.
For those of you who blog, I urge you to post on this incredibly abusive behavior by the Department of Justice. For those of you who don't, I urge you to ask your elected representatives to look into this unconscionable behavior by the Holder DOJ. Acknowledge that they are busy with this whole Health Care Reform issue, but point out that another basic right, that of free speech, is also important, at least in a real democracy.
It's time we stop cutting this administration any slack. It's abused the slack we've given for the past ten months.
Labels: First Amendment, Guantanamo Bay, Terra Terra Terra
posted by Diane at 6:27 AM
5 Comments:
Great post.
Time Mag had a great run down of many more abuses of power Obama has embraced in the GWOT and the first political casualty in his war against the rule of law. Highly recommended.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1940537,00.html
Hi,
This comment is out of context, just wanted to say this is the first time I have read your blog; thank you for some great writing/commentary!
Frances
Some of us noticed--and remarked upon--this six months ago.
That is, within the first three months of the new 'regime.'
Glad you've caught up!
See also:
Thom Hartmann Talks To Don Siegelman: Is President Obama leaving Siegelman behind?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLQ7gmchl2k
Siegelman is facing, on appeal, the same Bush DOJ that railroaded him in the first place.
It is a huge scandal that, almost a year into the new regime, more the HALF of all sitting US Attorneys are holdovers from the previous, fascistic, corrupt regime which used these same attorneys to politicize the entire fucking Justice Department.
This is a clear case of malfeasance...
Post a Comment
<< Home