Terrorism

Radical Claims Right to Make Bomb Speech

A former environmental rights radical is awaiting trial in San Diego for explaining in a speech how to make an incendiary device. Rod Coronado maintains he had a First Amendment right to make the speech, and the anti-terrorism law used to charge him is too vague, according to the New…

May 3, 2007 1:15 PM CDT

House Fails to Override Bush Veto of War Bill

An attempt today by the U.S. House of Representatives to override President George W. Bush’s veto yesterday of a controversial Iraq war funding bill failed by a significant margin. A two-thirds majority was required to override the veto, but the vote was 222-203. The White House and Congress are now…

May 2, 2007 9:17 PM CDT

Intelligence Chief Backs Wiretap Power

The new director of national intelligence says the president has the constitutional authority to order domestic wiretaps without seeking approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court. Michael McConnell told the Senate Intelligence Committee that it’s “the president’s call” whether to order surveillance without warrants, the New York Times reports. However,…

May 2, 2007 1:23 PM CDT

75 Gitmo Lawyers Lobby U.S. for Court Access

Some 75 attorneys representing so-called enemy combatants being held in the Guantanamo Bay prison without trials fanned out over Capital Hill today, lobbying legislators in private meetings in an effort to get their clients into U.S. court. Denouncing the current approach as “executive branch extremism” during a news conference, the…

May 2, 2007 1:08 AM CDT

Congressional Clash: Bush Vetoes Iraq War Bill

Setting up a showdown with the Democrat-controlled Congress, President George W. Bush today vetoed – as he had said he would – a bill tying more than $100 billion in continued funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a schedule for pulling out American troops, starting this year. It…

May 2, 2007 12:29 AM CDT

A Law Day Irony?

A Washington Post column takes President Bush to task, claiming he violates the spirit of Law Day. The Post column by Ruth Marcus notes that Bush signed the annual Law Day proclamation, then goes on to rap him for his expansive view of presidential power. It highlights the irony of…

May 1, 2007 5:22 PM CDT

Plotters’ Links Prompt Calls for Investigation

Details that have emerged from the trial of five men convicted of plotting to bomb British targets are prompting calls for further investigation. Evidence kept secret during the British trial showed a link between the plotters and four suicide bombers who attacked the London subway system, killing 56 people. Authorities…

May 1, 2007 2:49 PM CDT

Massacre Leads to Increased Gun Control in Va.

In the wake of the massacre of 32 at Virginia Tech, the state’s governor has issued an executive order to close a loophole that allowed the killer in that case, Seung Hui Cho, to buy firearms despite his troubled mental health history. The order puts individuals who have been found…

May 1, 2007 11:23 AM CDT

The Reach of the Writ

Habeas corpus rights of Guantanamo detainees are still up in the air

May 1, 2007 11:18 AM CDT

Rough Justice

Behind the scenes with the American advisers to the Iraq v. Saddam Hussein court

May 1, 2007 9:32 AM CDT

Cert Rejected in Second Gitmo Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied review of a case challenging the legality of military commissions, the second Guantanamo case it turned down this month. One of the petitioners was Salim Ahmed Hamdan, accused of acting as a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, Associated Press reports. He has…

Apr 30, 2007 7:57 PM CDT

82 Detainees in Search of a Country

The United States has agreed to release more than a fifth of the 385 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, but in most cases, it can’t find countries to take them. Eighty-two of the cleared prisoners remain at Guantanamo as the government looks for countries willing to accept them or where they…

Apr 30, 2007 4:52 PM CDT

Five Convicted in British Bombing Plots

In Britain’s longest terror trial, a jury has convicted five men of conspiring to bomb London targets, including a nightclub, shopping mall and power plants. Two others were cleared of conspiracy charges. Details of the trial that had been kept secret showed a link between the plotters and four suicide…

Apr 30, 2007 3:32 PM CDT

Lawyers Warn of Possible Gitmo Suicides

Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees say a Justice Department plan to limit their visits could lead to an increase in suicides. “The level of depression is soaring, I am afraid,” lawyer Clive Stafford Smith told the Associated Press. The DOJ claims lawyers have misused the mail system to inform detainees…

Apr 30, 2007 1:07 PM CDT

Defense Lawyer: Alabama Militia Raids Overblown

A lawyer for one of six alleged militia members recently arrested during an early-morning sweep in Alabama reportedly says the affair – in which 2,500 rounds of ammunition, hundreds of hand grenades and a machine gun were confiscated – was “much ado about nothing.” Scott Boudreaux’s client, a major in…

Apr 28, 2007 1:52 AM CDT