Terrorism

Iraq Is New Front in Detainee Battle

By David G. Savage The long legal battle over the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has succeeded in raising—but not yet answering—a basic question about American law: What is the reach of habeas corpus? Is the right to take your case before a judge limited to American citizens in…

Feb 27, 2008 9:27 PM CST

Germany’s High Court Protects Computer Privacy

Germany’s highest court has ruled that the government may not use spy software to access information on personal computers absent a warrant and exceptional reasons to do so. The ruling by Germany’s Constitutional Court holds that government surveillance of information stored or exchanged on personal computers violates a right to…

Feb 27, 2008 3:14 PM CST

Pentagon GC Resigns, Faced Controversy Over Detainee Policies

Defense Department general counsel William Haynes III is resigning to take a job in the private sector. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) describes Haynes as a principal architect of the policies governing Guantanamo detainees. He helped formulate the administration’s legal response to the Sept. 11 attacks, which included new…

Feb 26, 2008 7:17 PM CST

Zacarias Moussaoui Asks to Withdraw Plea, Cites Secret Evidence

Convicted al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui has asked a federal appeals court to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea because his lawyers were barred from sharing exculpatory information with him. Moussaoui says the trial judge, Leonie Brinkema, made two mistakes that hurt his defense, Adam Liptak writes in his Sidebar…

Feb 26, 2008 2:09 PM CST

New Waterboarding Probe: Did Gov’t Lawyers Act Ethically?

A second Department of Justice investigation, in addition to the one launched last month by Attorney General Michael Mukasey, has been under way for “several years” concerning the propriety of the waterboarding interrogation technique that the CIA has admittedly used on several al-Qaida suspects. This newly revealed probe, which is…

Feb 22, 2008 8:23 PM CST

Meaning of Court Cases on Muslims Open to Interpretation

An analyst with a Washington research group has scoured 888 court decisions involving Muslims and discerned the trends. The United States is winning many terrorism-related prosecutions against religiously inspired defendants. And Muslims frequently lose civil lawsuits. What’s not clear is what the numbers mean. Jeffrey Breinholt, who is on leave…

Feb 19, 2008 7:25 PM CST

Court Denies Cert in ACLU Wiretap Challenge

An American Civil Liberties Union challenge to the government’s warrantless wiretapping program has been stymied with the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to review the case. The court denied cert today, SCOTUSblog reports. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in July that the ACLU and other plaintiffs…

Feb 19, 2008 4:19 PM CST

U.K. Judges Blast Authorities in 9/11 Case Against Pilot

An Algerian pilot falsely accused of helping train the terrorists who flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001 says he wept with relief after learning that he had been exonerated by a British appellate court. Lotfi Raissi’s only “crime” was to attend…

Feb 15, 2008 5:10 PM CST

House Adjourns Without Approving Terrorism Wiretap Bill

The House of Representatives adjourned yesterday without approving a terrorism wiretap law to replace one that will expire on Saturday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to schedule a vote on the measure before the week’s recess, the New York Times reports. Democrats balked at approving legislation that would protect telecommunications…

Feb 15, 2008 12:19 PM CST

DOJ Cites National Security Threat in Detainee Cert Petition

The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to review an appellate ruling requiring the government to supply extensive information about its designation of more than 180 Guantanamo detainees as enemy combatants. The government contends the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals by the District of Columbia Circuit creates…

Feb 15, 2008 11:57 AM CST

DOJ Official Who Signed 2005 Waterboarding Memo Revisits the Issue

A Justice Department official who signed two secret legal memos in 2005 authorizing the use of waterboarding now says the department has made no determination that the interrogation method is legal under current law. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, makes the statement in…

Feb 14, 2008 3:35 PM CST

Judge Dismisses Renditions Case, Cites State Secrets Concerns

A federal judge has cited the state secrets privilege in dismissing a lawsuit that contends a Boeing subsidiary helped the CIA transport prisoners to overseas prisons for torture. U.S. District Judge James Ware of San Jose, Calif., said the suit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. “would jeopardize national security and foreign…

Feb 14, 2008 2:18 PM CST

Gitmo Surveillance Tapes Overwritten; Lawyers Fear Evidence Lost

The commander of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay said in a court filing on Friday that he recently learned surveillance tapes of detainees were automatically overwritten. The admission by Rear Adm. Mark Buzby has defense lawyers worried that important evidence on the legality of detainee treatment could be…

Feb 14, 2008 1:50 PM CST

Judge Denies Motion Citing Torture Policy Involvement as Reason for Recusal

A federal appeals judge has denied a motion that seeks his recusal in an excessive-force case on the ground that he cannot be fair because of his involvement in developing torture policy for the Bush administration. The motion contends that Judge Jay Bybee of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit…

Feb 13, 2008 3:14 PM CST

Senate Rejects Civil Liberties Amendments, Passes Spy Powers Bill

The Senate voted yesterday to expand the government’s wiretap authority and to protect telecommunications companies that participated in the administration’s surveillance program. The House did not include telecommunications immunity in a similar wiretap bill it approved last year, the Associated Press reports. The Senate voted after rejecting several amendments that…

Feb 13, 2008 2:15 PM CST