Thursday, August 03, 2006
Bush Admin RhetIraq: Proposed Detainee Justice?
Who: Alberto Gonzales, US Attorney General
Source: Associated Press via Findlaw
Quotes: From article titled, "U.S. Senate panel revives skepticism of Bush detainee plan outlined by attorney general"
The Bush administration is pressing a hard-line trial system for terror suspects despite objections by senators and military lawyers.
Major controversial demands, outlined to a Senate committee Wednesday by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, would let prosecutors withhold classified evidence from the accused and allow hearsay evidence against them.
"We must not share with captured terrorists the highly sensitive intelligence that may be relevant to military commission proceedings," Gonzales told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Gonzales said detainee legislation also should permit hearsay and coerced testimony if it were deemed reliable by a judge.
These approaches are not permitted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the rules that guide procedures in military courts-martial.
The administration's plans have sounded alarms in the military's legal corps and in Congress, whose critics say the UCMJ is a tried-and-true body of law that is well-regarded around the world.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, before Gonzales' remarks, the senior legal officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force said they would not support a law that would bar defendants' access to evidence, which is considered a fundamental right in U.S. civilian and military courts.
Republican senators who have been negotiating a final legislative proposal with the administration said they, too, were unconvinced the administration's position was sound.
"We haven't reached a final decision on how we're going to handle it," but it is important to have "this statute be able to survive any subsequent federal court review process," said Sen. John W. Warner, the Senate Armed Services chairman.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former Air Force legal officer, said he opposes withholding evidence because of the dangerous precedent it would set.
"If the only way we can try this terrorist is to disclose classified information, and we can't share it with the accused, I would argue, don't do the trial. Just keep them. Because it could come back to haunt us," Graham said.
Gonzales played down the effect of denying classified evidence to terror suspects, telling lawmakers, "I think it would be an extraordinary case where classified information would be used and would not be provided to the accused."
Warner said he may convene hearings during the August congressional recess so that the legislation could be finished by September. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Wednesday he expects a detainee bill to reach the floor in September.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he would oppose legislation that would authorize the defense secretary, instead of Congress, to determine what crimes might come under the military tribunals' jurisdiction.
Source: Associated Press via Findlaw
Quotes: From article titled, "U.S. Senate panel revives skepticism of Bush detainee plan outlined by attorney general"
The Bush administration is pressing a hard-line trial system for terror suspects despite objections by senators and military lawyers.
Major controversial demands, outlined to a Senate committee Wednesday by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, would let prosecutors withhold classified evidence from the accused and allow hearsay evidence against them.
"We must not share with captured terrorists the highly sensitive intelligence that may be relevant to military commission proceedings," Gonzales told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Gonzales said detainee legislation also should permit hearsay and coerced testimony if it were deemed reliable by a judge.
These approaches are not permitted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the rules that guide procedures in military courts-martial.
The administration's plans have sounded alarms in the military's legal corps and in Congress, whose critics say the UCMJ is a tried-and-true body of law that is well-regarded around the world.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, before Gonzales' remarks, the senior legal officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force said they would not support a law that would bar defendants' access to evidence, which is considered a fundamental right in U.S. civilian and military courts.
Republican senators who have been negotiating a final legislative proposal with the administration said they, too, were unconvinced the administration's position was sound.
"We haven't reached a final decision on how we're going to handle it," but it is important to have "this statute be able to survive any subsequent federal court review process," said Sen. John W. Warner, the Senate Armed Services chairman.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former Air Force legal officer, said he opposes withholding evidence because of the dangerous precedent it would set.
"If the only way we can try this terrorist is to disclose classified information, and we can't share it with the accused, I would argue, don't do the trial. Just keep them. Because it could come back to haunt us," Graham said.
Gonzales played down the effect of denying classified evidence to terror suspects, telling lawmakers, "I think it would be an extraordinary case where classified information would be used and would not be provided to the accused."
Warner said he may convene hearings during the August congressional recess so that the legislation could be finished by September. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Wednesday he expects a detainee bill to reach the floor in September.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he would oppose legislation that would authorize the defense secretary, instead of Congress, to determine what crimes might come under the military tribunals' jurisdiction.
