Affirms decision to suspend enforcement of defense authorization provision
06/08/2012
by
Bob Unruh
A federal judge has told the Obama administration that all Americans
are protected by her preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of a
citizen detention clause in a new federal law supported by Obama.
The federal government had told the judge it concluded that her recent ruling exempted only the named plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the provision.
That interpretation would have enabled the government to enforce the detention provision against all Americans except the plaintiffs.
U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest shot back in a new Memorandum Opinion and Order yesterday that said because the possible injury to Americans includes the loss of their rights, her order was intended to protect everyone.
“The injunction in this action is intentionally expansive because ‘persons whose expression is constitutionally protected [and not party to the instant litigation] may well refrain from exercising their rights for fear of criminal sanctions by a statute susceptible of application to protected expression,’” Forrest wrote.
On May 16 she issued a preliminary injunction banning enforcement of Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act. The section allows indefinite detention of people designated by the government as terrorists or terror-linked.
The law allows them to be held without hearing, charges or bond – essentially without their civil rights. And their detention can be indefinite.
The Obama administration asked for reconsideration and said it was interpreting the injunction as a protection only for the individual plaintiffs.
Wrong, the judge wrote.
“The law has long provided that this type of finding has provided relief to both the parties pursuing the challenge, as well as third parties not before the court,” she lectured. “This court’s preliminary injunction was consistent with that precedent. Put more bluntly, the May 16 order enjoined enforcement of Section 1021(b)(2) against anyone until further action by this, or a higher, court – or by Congress.”
She continued: “Here, plaintiffs argue that they and others could be subject to indefinite military detention under Section 1021 (b)(2); accordingly, the public interest in ensuring that ordinary citizens understand the scope of such a statute justifies its breadth.”
WND previously has reported on the dispute, which has gathered significant attention already. The law is based on a vague provision that appears to allow for the suspension of civil rights and the detention of citizens linked to terrorism.
Virginia already has passed a law that states it will not cooperate with such detentions, and several local jurisdictions have done the same. Arizona, Rhode Island, Maryland, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Washington also have reviewed such plans.
The case was brought on behalf of Christopher Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Jennifer Bolen, Noam Chomsky, Alex O’Brien, Kai Warg All, Brigitta Jonsottir and the group U.S. Day of Rage. Many of the plaintiffs are authors or reporters who stated that the threat of indefinite detention by the U.S. military already had altered their activities.
Full story HERE
The federal government had told the judge it concluded that her recent ruling exempted only the named plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the provision.
That interpretation would have enabled the government to enforce the detention provision against all Americans except the plaintiffs.
U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest shot back in a new Memorandum Opinion and Order yesterday that said because the possible injury to Americans includes the loss of their rights, her order was intended to protect everyone.
“The injunction in this action is intentionally expansive because ‘persons whose expression is constitutionally protected [and not party to the instant litigation] may well refrain from exercising their rights for fear of criminal sanctions by a statute susceptible of application to protected expression,’” Forrest wrote.
On May 16 she issued a preliminary injunction banning enforcement of Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act. The section allows indefinite detention of people designated by the government as terrorists or terror-linked.
The law allows them to be held without hearing, charges or bond – essentially without their civil rights. And their detention can be indefinite.
The Obama administration asked for reconsideration and said it was interpreting the injunction as a protection only for the individual plaintiffs.
Wrong, the judge wrote.
“The law has long provided that this type of finding has provided relief to both the parties pursuing the challenge, as well as third parties not before the court,” she lectured. “This court’s preliminary injunction was consistent with that precedent. Put more bluntly, the May 16 order enjoined enforcement of Section 1021(b)(2) against anyone until further action by this, or a higher, court – or by Congress.”
She continued: “Here, plaintiffs argue that they and others could be subject to indefinite military detention under Section 1021 (b)(2); accordingly, the public interest in ensuring that ordinary citizens understand the scope of such a statute justifies its breadth.”
WND previously has reported on the dispute, which has gathered significant attention already. The law is based on a vague provision that appears to allow for the suspension of civil rights and the detention of citizens linked to terrorism.
Virginia already has passed a law that states it will not cooperate with such detentions, and several local jurisdictions have done the same. Arizona, Rhode Island, Maryland, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Washington also have reviewed such plans.
The case was brought on behalf of Christopher Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Jennifer Bolen, Noam Chomsky, Alex O’Brien, Kai Warg All, Brigitta Jonsottir and the group U.S. Day of Rage. Many of the plaintiffs are authors or reporters who stated that the threat of indefinite detention by the U.S. military already had altered their activities.
Full story HERE
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