Terrorism

Terror Plotter Padilla Sent to Supermax

Jose Padilla, convicted of plotting acts of terrorism on U.S. soil, will do his 17 years at the federal prison in Colorado known as “Supermax” for its restrictive and isolating conditions. The 37-year-old was transported from Miami to the high-security facility in Florence, Colo., on Thursday, the Associated Press reports.…

Apr 21, 2008 10:23 AM CDT

CIA Says Destroyed Videos Didn’t Violate Court Order

The CIA says it did not violate a court order when it destroyed videos of two suspects undergoing harsh interrogations. In court filings, the agency said a document search found no evidence of “intentional, accidental, or negligent destruction of records” falling under a preservation order by U.S. District Judge Richard…

Apr 18, 2008 4:51 PM CDT

Wisconsin National Guard Unit to Handle Guantanamo PR

Public relations duties at Guantanamo Bay will be handled for the next year by 20 members of the Army National Guard’s public affairs detachment based in Wisconsin. Commander Rick Morehouse said the group’s goal is to show the world that prisoners are well-treated, the Capital Times reports. “The media of…

Apr 18, 2008 3:50 PM CDT

Families of 9-11 Victims Can See Broadcast Trial of Accused Mastermind

Families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks will be able to watch the Guantanamo trial of accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The chief prosecutor, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, told Reuters that the trials will be broadcast on closed-circuit TV at military bases in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and…

Apr 18, 2008 3:43 PM CDT

Prosecutors Talk the Talk, Experts Say After 2nd Sears Tower Terror Mistrial

Are prosecutors promising too much and delivering too little in federal terrorism trials? Experts discussing the issue in the wake of yesterday’s mistrial (the second so far) in the case of six Liberty City, Fla., men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago say the answer…

Apr 17, 2008 9:02 PM CDT

Selya to Head FISA Court

U.S. District Judge Bruce Selya of Rhode Island has been named to head the secret court that hears wiretap requests in terrorism cases. Selya has been a member of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review since 2005 and will become presiding judge in May, the Providence Journal reports.…

Apr 15, 2008 4:59 PM CDT

Bills Would Restrict National Security Letters

Legislators are considering bills that would restrict the FBI’s use of national security letters to collect telephone, e-mail and financial records without a warrant. A House bill would require the FBI to destroy evidence that was obtained illegally and would allow lawsuits if the letter did not have sufficient legal…

Apr 15, 2008 4:34 PM CDT

Berkeley Dean Supports ‘Torture Memo’ Author

The dean of the University of California-Berkeley law school says he doesn’t agree with the legal analysis of the author of one of the so-called torture memos, but that doesn’t mean he should be fired from his post as a law professor. Dean Christopher Edley Jr. stated his views in…

Apr 15, 2008 1:22 PM CDT

Suit Claims Boss Waterboarded Worker as Motivational Tack

A suit by a sales employee claims his boss subjected him to waterboarding as part of a “team-building exercise.” Chad Hudgens, part of a 10-person telephone sales team, said he had volunteered for the exercise, devised by his supervisor during a slow sales week, but had no idea what he…

Apr 14, 2008 3:54 PM CDT

About 270 Ex-Detainees Get ‘Deeply Flawed’ Justice in Afghanistan

About 270 detainees held by the United States have been transferred to Afghanistan where they face trials without due process rights or longtime detention without a hearing. About 50 detainees were transferred from Guantanamo and 220 from the Bagram air base in Aghanistan, the Washington Post reports. Many are being…

Apr 14, 2008 1:11 PM CDT

ABC: White House Micromanaged Torture

In detailed discussions in the White House basement, top aides to President Bush micromanaged at least several torture sessions of terrorist suspects, starting in 2002, a major newspaper says. Relying on an ABC News report televised earlier this week, Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin writes that a group including Vice…

Apr 11, 2008 4:32 PM CDT

Mukasey Disavows Terrorism Exception to the Fourth Amendment

Attorney General Michael Mukasey told the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday that the Fourth Amendment applies to bar unreasonable searches by the military during terrorism operations in the United States. Mukasey said an opposing view taken in a controversial 2001 Justice Department memorandum is “not in force,” the Washington Post reports.…

Apr 11, 2008 3:17 PM CDT

Former U.S. Detainees Convicted in One-Hour Trials in Afghanistan

Afghan detainees formerly held by the United States are being tried in Afghanistan in secretive trials that last one hour or less, human rights investigators told the New York Times. The detainees were housed at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan before being handed over to their home…

Apr 10, 2008 3:07 PM CDT

Guantanamo Justice Moves Slowly, Frustrating Pentagon Official

Few terrorism and war-crimes detainees at Guantanamo Bay are likely to go to trial before President Bush leaves office. Military lawyers and other experts who spoke to the New York Times said military commission trials of 14 pending cases are likely to be delayed while military judges sort out some…

Apr 10, 2008 12:23 PM CDT

I’ll Be a Potted Plant, Gitmo Defense Lawyer Fears

As efforts to conduct military trials of terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison inch forward, some suspects and their counsel are not optimistic about the process. One Saudi defendant today politely informed a military judge that his planned war crimes trial is a sham in which he…

Apr 9, 2008 10:01 PM CDT