I know this is something that many were concerned with, no matter what side of the political aisle they stand on. But, American citizens should not be concerned, as the final bill does not give the government the right to detain Americans indefinitely, send them to Guantanamo Bay, or give them military trials
(LA Times) The final compromise mandates that terrorism suspects thought to have ties to Al Qaeda and planning attacks against the United States be taken into military custody, even those captured in the U.S. In response to some complaints, though, the bill carves out an exemption for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
The bill also allows the military to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects accused of having ties to Al Qaeda, the Taliban or forces engaged in hostilities against the U.S. That provision specifies that such power cannot be applied to U.S. citizens captured in the U.S.
As I wrote, I never posted anything about this because I was behind the curve on the story. Also, because I spoke with an aide to a politician who said that the language would never survive to make it to the president’s desk. There was too much opposition in the House and Senate.
(The Hill) One of the more controversial provisions of the bill is language that reaffirms the authority of the administration to detain people found to be associated with al Qaeda, and requires military detention for anyone who plots an attack against the United States. In both cases, the bill does not create any new authority to detain U.S. citizens, ensuring their rights to a fair trial, and the military detention language does exempts U.S. citizens.
The redone provisions apparently are more than just giving the POTUS the power to waive indefinite detention for American citizens and legal residents caught on US soil. It gives them the normal legal protections already accorded.
Just to be clear, the final version of HR 1540, National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, Subtitle D, Section 1032(b)
(b) Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens-
(1) UNITED STATES CITIZENS- The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.
(2) LAWFUL RESIDENT ALIENS- The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to a lawful resident alien of the United States on the basis of conduct taking place within the United States, except to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States.
Sections 1031 and 1032 are the ones cited, and the above language comes from the final legislation. They won’t be able to haul off US citizens even if captured outside of the US, nor to lawful residents captured within the US.
While there is still some concern by some Congress critters (who still voted for the bill), the language regarding US citizens is pretty cut and dry, with no exceptions.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.
[…] Pirate’s Cove: Final Defense Bill Does Not Include Ability To Detain American Citizens […]
Teach….
While I agree with your conclusion, I think your reasoning is off a little bit, or at least incomplete.
The sections in question are 1031 and 1032. These sections appear to be written to prevent, as is happening now, the practice of treating terrorists the same way as those given a traffic ticket. The current administration wants terrorists tried in civilian courts. Such a trial would expose the intelligence gathering methods as well as place the people who captured and interrogated the terrorists known to terrorist groups themselves. This part of the bill keeps the trials in military courts, where rules of evidence standards are different.
As you note, section 1032 says the military must detain certain terrorists. The argument from people is that “must detain” does not preclude the President from detaining at will American citizens. The section you cite covering American citizens and legal residents of America have been in place since the bill was introduced in May of 2011.
But you are correct in that the bill does prevent the detention of American citizens.
Section 1031 is the same way. In that bill, the President is given authority to authorize the detention of terrorists by the military.
That is the section people are freaking out over the most. People have said that as the government has declared right leaning groups as potential terrorists, the bill will allow for citizens to be arrested and thrown in military jail to rot without communication or trial.
The only problem with that scenario is that by law, the military is not allowed to act on US soil as a law enforcement agency. People have said the bill would suspend that provision of law.
To be frank, they have not read the Senate or House versions of the bill as section 1031 contains this:
(e) AUTHORITIES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities, relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident
aliens of the United States or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.
In other words, the bill specifically leaves in place the Constitutional and lawful rights and guarantees of all American citizens.
The thing that I have found most interesting is that Representatives such as Rand Paul who have screamed how horrible this bill is have not offered any amendment or changes to it.
Personally, I believe the actions of some of the media, some blogs and elected officials is designed to create controversy.
The bottom line is that Obama is against this bill as is the ACLU. When they gang up together, my natural inclination is to believe the bill is good for the country.
Quite true, GT, you are right on. I mostly wrote the post in regards to some folks at Right Wing News wondering why no one had written anything about it, because they were all worried. I didn’t want to get too deep into it, in order to assuage their concerns on the issue. People on the left and right were freaking out over essentially nothing.
I have said it was nothing from the beginning other than hype. The standard response from people has been “if its nothing, then why is -insert name of person here- freaking out?”
There are somethings you can’t reason with people on.
When I started to blog, I realized that there are sites that are out there simply to drum up hysteria, fear, and spread lies. They are basically what I have come to call “Michael Moore” sites. They may not write the article on which they base their irrational and ill-informed opinions, but they promote them.
I vowed to shut down if I ever became such a site. (Or eve thought about being such as site.) One of the reason’s I like Pirate’s Cove is that it has the same ethos. You do a good job reporting on the things that you want, but your reporting is truthful. I respect that a great deal.
There are people put there who delve into an issue and then there are people who blindly accept what others tell them because it fits their preconceived notions.
It is a shame that we have to fight to make the truth heard and to dismiss the falsehoods.
Right after I wrote the above comment, I visited a thread on Facebook where one guy wrote “I’ve seen this too much for it not to be true.”
The logical conclusion is that the truth of a matter depends not on the facts, but rather who can tell the tale most often. If a lie is told the most, then it must be true. If facts are misstated the most, they must be true.
Un-friggin’-believable.
Quite true, so many do go way, way overboard in hyping something without looking for the reality of the situation on the Internet. And, I’ll admit, I’ll sometimes do it for a bit of traffic whoring, as we call it. I think so many of the big sites ignored the story was because it was overblown and seemed rather hysterical, and wanted real information on the reality of the legislation.
[…] Pirate’s Cove: Final Defense Bill Does Not Include Ability To Detain American Citizens […]
So at the eleventh hour after foreign media were tipped off, they limit the part about disappearing US Citizens, but only in the US? Everyone relax, we only almost became a torturing Pinochet Regime. Better luck shoving the provision in the next bill. Almost all our representatives went along? You’ve got to be kidding. Nothing to see here, move along.
I better not take a vacation on a secluded boat