By: Daniel Nardini
On December 31, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. One provision of the act allows for the president to arrest, incarcerate and yes even deny habeas corpus to any and all suspects accused of terrorism. Further, it can allow the president to try terrorist suspects in a military court instead of in a civilian court. Sadly, this legislation extends to U.S. citizens as well. This piece of legislation violates the U.S. Constitution, especially the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees a try by jury, the right to face their accuser, and have a lawyer. But under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, all of this is denied by the U.S. government. Only the President of the United States can allow a terrorist suspect any rights or not. This is all wrong.
The U.S. Congress had no right to pass this kind of legislation, and the President of the United States had no right to sign it. This one provision of the Act is in total violation of the U.S. Constitution, and should not be tolerated by the American people. This act joins a series of bad laws passed by the United States in decades past to fight some enemy. Two acts that come to mind are the Smith Act of 1940 and the McCarran Act of 1950. The Smith Act made it a crime to even talk about “overthrowing the government” and gave the U.S. government power to go after any group that it “felt” might try and overthrow the government. Those who were prosecuted under this Act were later released after it went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but sadly the Smith Act is still on the books. The McCarran Act was passed specifically against the Communist Party U.S.A. and other left wing organizations. In the end the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some provisions of the Act but not the whole law. Then there is the USA Patriot Act of 2001 that remains in use today. It allows the U.S. government in essence to spy on its own people.
Such laws have usually been passed in time of crisis, and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 is just one case. But it is a bad case, and another law that leaves much to be desired. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is very disturbed by this new law. I hope they will be more than just disturbed by it. I hope they and/or someone else will challenge the law in court. No one, not even someone who might just be an enemy of the United States, should be deprived of the legal rights and protections that American enjoy, nor face torture or any other vicious physical methods that could be used against prisoners of war no matter who those prisoners are. The strength of the United States, in war and peace, is the rule of law and the constitutional safeguards built into the system. No one person, not even the President of the United States, should ever be granted the sole power of life and death over anyone, even an enemy.
Beginnings of Dictatorship?
By: Daniel Nardini
The U.S. Congress had no right to pass this kind of legislation, and the President of the United States had no right to sign it. This one provision of the Act is in total violation of the U.S. Constitution, and should not be tolerated by the American people. This act joins a series of bad laws passed by the United States in decades past to fight some enemy. Two acts that come to mind are the Smith Act of 1940 and the McCarran Act of 1950. The Smith Act made it a crime to even talk about “overthrowing the government” and gave the U.S. government power to go after any group that it “felt” might try and overthrow the government. Those who were prosecuted under this Act were later released after it went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but sadly the Smith Act is still on the books. The McCarran Act was passed specifically against the Communist Party U.S.A. and other left wing organizations. In the end the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some provisions of the Act but not the whole law. Then there is the USA Patriot Act of 2001 that remains in use today. It allows the U.S. government in essence to spy on its own people.
Such laws have usually been passed in time of crisis, and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 is just one case. But it is a bad case, and another law that leaves much to be desired. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is very disturbed by this new law. I hope they will be more than just disturbed by it. I hope they and/or someone else will challenge the law in court. No one, not even someone who might just be an enemy of the United States, should be deprived of the legal rights and protections that American enjoy, nor face torture or any other vicious physical methods that could be used against prisoners of war no matter who those prisoners are. The strength of the United States, in war and peace, is the rule of law and the constitutional safeguards built into the system. No one person, not even the President of the United States, should ever be granted the sole power of life and death over anyone, even an enemy.