Weekly Analysis – 6/17/03

Habeas Corpus

By Kirt R. Poovey

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.”  So reads the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

Today we lay the Sixth Amendment to rest because it has outlived its usefulness.  No longer can we abide by such outdated thoughts of those unenlightened writers of our constitution.  Under the present day concerns about terrorism in this once great nation of ours we must sacrifice our liberties and our freedom for security.  No longer can we feel secure in our persons.

We must acquiesce to the government so that those in power who are only looking out for our safety may dictate our lives in totality all in the name of National Security.  After all, when Homeland Security determines that the threat level is Orange, then no package over one pound may be picked up at a business where the local mail carrier knows the individuals.  Instead the business must send someone to personally deliver the package(s) to the Post Office where no one there knows the business person. 

So instead of feeling safe in taking a package from someone you know, the government requires that the Post Office must take the package from an unknown person (who if they were wanting to deliver a bomb to the Post Office would be afforded the perfect opportunity).

Today a federal appeals court ruled that the Sixth Amendment is worthless and not needed in this “War on Terrorism”.  They said that the government was not compelled to release the names of more than 700 people who have been detained since September 11, 2001.  Supposedly, according to the judges and the Justice Department such information if given to the public could “allow Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to map the course of the investigation”.

The court in its great wisdom said that the government could withhold the dates and locations of arrest, detention, and release of all detainees.  The names of the lawyers representing them could also be withheld.

"A complete list of names informing terrorists of every suspect detained by the government at any point during the Sept. 11 investigation would give terrorist organizations a composite picture of the government investigation," said the majority. "Disclosure would inform terrorists of both the substantive and geographic focus of the investigation. Moreover, disclosure would inform terrorists which of their members were compromised by the investigation, and which were not.”

Today the bad guy is Al Qaeda – tomorrow it may be you and your friends.  If they can do it to one group, they can do it to all groups.  The Sixth Amendment was included for a reason – to protect the citizenry from a tyrannical government.  Because it is Bush and company the conservatives are not up in arms, but instead are applauding this decision.  They are fools and will endure a fool’s punishment.  Such blatant disregard of our Constitution is becoming a hallmark of this administration. 

As I stated in my March 10th article – “This war that the U.S. has initiated is NOT about Weapons of Mass Destruction, terrorism, or anything else the administration has put forward.  Quite simply it is about three things – Oil, Global Positioning of U.S. troops, and greater control over U.S. citizens.”

No WMDs have been found, Wolfowitz has now admitted it was about oil, and now the further advancement of the Police State moves rapidly on with this ruling and with the call by Ashcroft for the enactment of U.S.A. Patriot Act II (which supposedly did not exist).

"We will stand, fight, and die to defend our country; but we will not blindly trust it.  Even our Founding Fathers distrusted a large, centralized, all-powerful federal government -- so should we.  Always be on guard to discern the truth and defend it at all costs."