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Shahid Buttar commented on the blog post Levin: Let’s Not Let the Constitution Get in the Way of Indefinite Detention
It’s not even particularly crazy, given the MEK story. See http://www.constitutioncampaign.org/blog/?p=7680.
Also, FWIW, we’re on the same train: http://www.constitutioncampaign.org/blog/?p=7602.
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Shahid Buttar commented on the blog post Levin: Let’s Not Let the Constitution Get in the Way of Indefinite Detention
Indeed! He may not intend it, but last week’s events in Chicago are a perfect demonstration of what life under the NDAA might look like. http://www.constitutioncampaign.org/blog/?p=7602
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Shahid Buttar commented on the blog post Abdulmutallab Sentencing Shows That Civilian Courts Sufficient to Prosecute Terrorism
While the sentencing does indeed show the continuing viability of relying on Article III civilian (i.e., constitutional) courts, our government has already expanded the alternative military (i.e., unconstitutional) detention regime in the NDAA. But we need not stand for it. Cite this article when raising your voice where you can make a difference — where you live. Communities around the country, in states both blue and red, are already raising their voices: http://www.constitutioncampaign.org/blog/?p=6098. Will your’s be next?
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Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: What Comes Next? The Future of the NDAA
This is the final part of a 3-part FAQ about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that began with Another Assault in the Dead of Night and continued with Torture Enabling Expanded Detention . The first installment explained how the NDAA could be used as a tool for political repression , especially in concert with parallel powers expanded by the [...] -
Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: Torture Enabling Expanded Detention: the NDAA in context
This is the second part of a 3-part series about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that began with ” Another Assault in the Dead of Night “. As I concluded there:
elieve the hype: the NDAA’s detention provisions represent a frontal assault on the Bill of Rights. They are noxious now. They will be worse in the [...]
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Shahid Buttar commented on the diary post The NDAA: Another Assault in the Dead of Night by Shahid Buttar.
I fully agree, and do think that, as lawyers, we owe a particular obligation to identify — and challenge — the radicalism that has seized both major political parties. “It’s an obligation I think is incumbent on all lawyers and law students — to defend the rights of dissent in an age of state repression.” [...]
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Shahid Buttar commented on the diary post The NDAA: Another Assault in the Dead of Night by Shahid Buttar.
I think one reason the NDAA hasn’t attracted much media attention is because its legislative process was relatively secret. Hearings are typically how issues get raised, rather than through the back room deals orchestrated by Dick Cheney & his minions that ushered the NDAA through Congress. I suspect most members of Congress don’t even realize [...]
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Shahid Buttar commented on the diary post The NDAA: Another Assault in the Dead of Night by Shahid Buttar.
Signing statements can certainly be rescinded or ignored by future presidents. They have no binding authority, so any potential caveats articulated by the Obama administration via signing statement are good for only as long as he remains in the White House.
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Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: The NDAA: Another Assault in the Dead of Night
Ten years ago, Congress enacted a draconian law with no transparency, regard for process, or even awareness of the profound erosion of constitutional rights the PATRIOT Act would entail. Congress did it again this holiday season, repeating its abdication of its constitutional role by authorizing, in the National Defense Authorization Act, indefinite military detention of even [...] -
Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: Washington dishonors our veterans
This Veterans Day, it’s worth noting how, while paying lip service to honoring our veterans, our leaders systematically abuse their legacy, expose current servicemembers to potential human rights violations, and degrade the nation they have risked their lives to defend. The day before the PATRIOT Act’s 10 year anniversary last month, I was visiting the San [...]
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Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: Supreme Court hears GPS tracking case
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in US v. Jones , a case regarding police use of GPS tracking devices in criminal investigations. The case has dire Fourth Amendment implications. In its decision, the Supreme Court will settle differences between rulings of two federal appeals courts. In one case, US v. Jones , the lower court overturned a conviction, saying [...] -
Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: The greatest casualty of 9/11: The America we knew
Reflections on the 9/11 attacks are important and moving. But most overlook the enduring legacy of the attacks, in the form of the vastly greater damage done to American principles over the past decade. Whether in the context of surveillance, torture, or the congressional cowardice that has enabled them, our leaders have sullied the legacy of [...] -
Shahid Buttar wrote a new diary post: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire: Why the FBI Needs New Leadership
The last ten years have witnessed an assault on the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans, led largely by the FBI. Appointed mere days before the 9/11 attacks, Director Robert S. Mueller III has guided the bureau through the resurrection of many long discredited practices from its COINTELPRO era. Yet, the Obama administration has proposed extending Mueller’s term [...] -
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