The Playa: John Ashcroft
Status: US Attorney General
Seeking: To Establish Internment Camps while we fight the War on Terrorism
According to an August 14th LA Times article written by George Washington University Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley, Atty. Gen John Ashcroft is pushing for internment camps to house US citizens who are deemed 'enemy combatants'. According to the article.. Ashcroft disclosed his plan but it received very little media attention.. His proposal would allow for him to order 'the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants'.
Turley also writes in his article that Ashcroft has been watching two 'test cases to see what sort of hurdles would need to be cleared in order for him to push his plans forward. They involve Yaser Esam Hamdi and Jose Padilla. Both have been held for more then 3 months without any charges brought against them.
Many of us should be familiar with the Padilla case after Ashcroft announced to the world that Padilla was trying to design a dirty bomb and was connected to the terrorist group Al Queda. He made a really big deal of this.. Now we come to find out that neither one of these accusations hold much water. There is no evidence to support either claim, yet Padilla still remains locked up...The fact that this is taking place without much public outcry is something we will pay for in the near future when Ashcroft moves from Padilla to ordinary citizens who may have a different political outlook then the Atty General..
In addition to the August 14th article.. Turley has also penned another article outlying Ashcrofts latest antics..
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-turley26aug26.story
Bottom Line: Forget Al Queda.. Ashcroft is a dangerous man in America
Status: US Attorney General
Seeking: To Establish Internment Camps while we fight the War on Terrorism
According to an August 14th LA Times article written by George Washington University Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley, Atty. Gen John Ashcroft is pushing for internment camps to house US citizens who are deemed 'enemy combatants'. According to the article.. Ashcroft disclosed his plan but it received very little media attention.. His proposal would allow for him to order 'the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants'.
Turley also writes in his article that Ashcroft has been watching two 'test cases to see what sort of hurdles would need to be cleared in order for him to push his plans forward. They involve Yaser Esam Hamdi and Jose Padilla. Both have been held for more then 3 months without any charges brought against them.
Many of us should be familiar with the Padilla case after Ashcroft announced to the world that Padilla was trying to design a dirty bomb and was connected to the terrorist group Al Queda. He made a really big deal of this.. Now we come to find out that neither one of these accusations hold much water. There is no evidence to support either claim, yet Padilla still remains locked up...The fact that this is taking place without much public outcry is something we will pay for in the near future when Ashcroft moves from Padilla to ordinary citizens who may have a different political outlook then the Atty General..
In addition to the August 14th article.. Turley has also penned another article outlying Ashcrofts latest antics..
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-turley26aug26.story
Bottom Line: Forget Al Queda.. Ashcroft is a dangerous man in America
