Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, September 14, 2012
Prison Planet.com
Friday, September 14, 2012
Within 24 hours of a historic court ruling that struck
down the indefinite detention provision of the National Defense
Authorization Act, the Obama administration has appealed the ruling,
emphasizing once again how the White House – while claiming to be
against the measure – has aggressively pushed for it at every turn.
On Wednesday, New York federal judge Katherine Forrest issued a ruling [1] which blocked provisions of the NDAA that could have seen American citizens kidnapped and held indefinitely without charge.
The suit was brought by activists and journalists,
including former New York Times columnist Chris Hedges, who argued that
the law was unconstitutional because it could see journalists abducted
and detained merely for speaking their minds.
In “permanently” halting the enforcement of the law,
Forrest noted how the plaintiffs presented “evidence that First
Amendment rights have already been harmed and will be harmed by the
prospect of (the law) being enforced. The public has a strong and
undoubted interest in the clear preservation of First and Fifth
Amendment rights.”
However, the very next day the Obama administration
reportedly moved to appeal the decision in an attempt to reinstate the
indefinite detention provisions.
“This sent a chill down my spine,” writes Business Insider’s David Seaman [2].
“In the midst of my interview with Tangerine Bolen, a plaintiff in the
lawsuit against the NDAA’s indefinite detention provisions &
coordinator of StopNDAA.org, she received an email from her lawyer to
inform her that the Obama administration has already appealed
yesterday’s historic court ruling.”
“For a man who
doesn’t want the ability to order the military to abduct and detain
citizens – without charge or trial – it is quite odd that his
administration is appealing yet again,” he adds.
Indeed, as we documented throughout the course of the NDAA controversy, despite Obama issuing a signing statement [3]
promising not to use the indefinite detention provisions against U.S.
citizens, his administration specifically pushed for those provisions to
be applied to U.S. citizens in the first place.
As the NDAA’s co-sponsor Senator Carl Levin said during a
speech on the floor in December, it was the Obama administration that
demanded the removal of language that would have protected Americans
from being subject to indefinite detention.
“The language which precluded the application of Section
1031 to American citizens was in the bill that we originally
approved…and the administration asked us to remove the language which
says that U.S. citizens and lawful residents would not be subject to
this section,” said Levin, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
“It was the administration that asked us to remove the
very language which we had in the bill which passed the committee…we
removed it at the request of the administration,” said Levin,
emphasizing, “It was the administration which asked us to remove the
very language the absence of which is now objected to.”
In attempting to include the entire United States as a
battleground under the NDAA, the Obama administration is merely
extending its already established policy of targeting American citizens worldwide [4] for state-sponsored assassination with no legal process whatsoever.
Given that the White House is already executing this
policy at the global level, it’s no surprise that they are also keen to
enforce it domestically by appealing this week’s ruling.
*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com [5].
He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular
fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.
Article printed from Prison Planet.com: http://www.prisonplanet.com
URL to article: http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-appeals-court-ruling-that-strikes-down-indefinite-detention-of-american-citizens.html
URLs in this post:
[1] New York federal judge Katherine Forrest issued a ruling: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/12832-indefinite-detention-provisions-struck-down-by-fed-judge
[2] writes Business Insider’s David Seaman: http://www.businessinsider.com/unbelievable-obama-administration-has-already-appealed-ndaa-ruling-2012-9
[3] despite Obama issuing a signing statement: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/31/statement-president-hr-1540
[4] already established policy of targeting American citizens worldwide: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-lawyers-citizens-targeted-war-us-154313473.html
[5] Prison Planet.com: http://prisonplanet.com/
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