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Attorney General's Call to Legislate Detainee Policy Rankles Senators
Attorney General Michael Mukasey angered Democratic senators when he made an unexpected call for Congress to step in and legislate detainees rights, rather than waiting for federal court proceedings.
Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute this morning, Mukasey spoke to the "unanswered questions" raised by the Supreme Court decision of Boumediene v. Bush, which stated that detainees are protected by the right to habeas corpus. Mukasey called the Court's decision a "disappointment," and said the court stopped "well short of detailing how the habeas corpus proceedings must be conducted." Currently, over 200 cases are waiting to be heard in federal court related to the Supreme Court's ruling, a problem Mukasey thinks could be circumvented by Congressional action:
Congress and the executive branch are affirmatively charged by our Constitution with protecting national security, are expert in such matters, and are in the best position to weigh the difficult policy choices that are posed by these issues.Judges play an important role in deciding whether a chosen policy is consistent with our laws and the Constitution. But it is our elected leaders who have the responsibility for making policy choices in the first instance.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement today, slamming Mukasey for failing to consult or inform the Committee of his thoughts before his speech:
"The Committee has held a wide range of hearings on issues of detainee rights and procedures. Attorney General Mukasey's call today for Congress to create new rules for these habeas proceedings is the first I have heard from the Administration on this issue," Leahy said. "The Administration made this mess by seeking to avoid judicial review at all costs, causing years of delay and profound uncertainty."
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) echoed Leahy's comments. "Our federal courts are capable of handling these cases," he said. "By repeatedly mishandling these cases, the administration has delayed justice from being served."
[Late update]: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just chimed in with a statement from the Senate floor.
"As a result of its repeated efforts to circumvent the requirements of the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution, the Bush administration has yet to bring to justice the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks of September 11," he said. "The courts are well equipped to handle this situation, and there is no danger that any detainee will be released in the meantime."
Comments (26)
making it up as they go along.
this administration doesn't know the meaning of shame, and embarassment.
July 21, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
To be fair... This administration doesn't know the meaning of anything.
July 21, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I second that sentiment!
July 22, 2008 1:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
We must have all the distractions possible to get the focus away from the war crimes of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and a host of others.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
July 21, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
"As a result of its repeated efforts to circumvent the requirements of the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution, the Bush administration has yet to bring to justice the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks..."
Yes, the Bush administration and Congress are one in the same...neither cares on bit about our Constitution O
R the Geneva Conventions.. they have taken accountability off the table and have instead decided to support torture by not bringing justice to those who terrorize or torture and have instead funded them more than enough to continue the practice..
They ALL belong in front of the courts... if nothing more than collaboration to commit crimes against humanity and torture... IMHO
July 21, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Rankled", maybe. But Senators, even democrats, will quickly align with Mukasey and Bush's proposed remedies. Just like they did with teh war, FISA....etc.
Move on, nothing to see here...
July 21, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. Why it is, I cannot fathom, but there is nothing the Congressional Democrats love more than groveling at the feet of George Bush and Dick Cheney--and now Mike Mukasey. Some sort of sick, masochistic symbiosis.
July 21, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's called warrantless wiretaps on members of congress... This scandal war, profiteering. complete destruction of the constitution could not happen unless blackmail on a scale so large and white that it will blow your mind. They have tampered with elections to help get them there, and then...the wiretapping started. They blackmailed the leadership until signing off on these insane policies, and it went on from there...Blackmail.Period.
July 22, 2008 1:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
New legislation? Sure, why not? It worked for the telecoms. While they're at it, why don't they legalize torture, domestic propaganda programs, perjury, and politically motivated firings.
July 21, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why don't Congress go on and impeach Mukasey, he clearly lied under oath when he said that he would obey and carry out the rule of law. This man is just as bad as Gonzo.
July 21, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seems Mukasey thinks he'd get a better take on habeus corpus from Congress. Now why do you suppose that is?
It's unbelievable that he thinks it would be easier to slip through the legislature with these weasel works rather than the Roberts' court. It's a telling notion. He's no doubt correct.
July 21, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is only one promise this Congress has held to. Impeachment is off the table.
July 21, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
And they say irony is dead...
July 21, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"expert"???
The Congress and the executive branch are "expert" at destroying the constitution.
AAAAHHH!!!!!
July 21, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I hate to say it but I'm a bit with Mukasey on this one - although not on how he stinkbombed it.
Congress did screw the pooch with both the Detainee Treatment Act and the Military Commissions Act and Congress needs to get ITS Acts together, repeal a bunch of the garbage, and redraft with the sure and certain knowledge that a chunk of those held at GITMO were never enemy combatants at all, much less "illegal" enemy combatanta, and that the nonsensical definitions and lack thereof for "material support" and the like are a disaster. There needs to be a coordinated scheme that works both with criminal justice approaches and battlefield detentions and that provides a mechanism for real and fair hearings, not perpetuating the horrible mishmash that the MCA established and just waiting for courts to strike down the worst of the offenses as they occur and to not strike down other just as egregious offenses because of judicial exhaustion with Congressional and Executive depravity.
Congress needs to get off its duff and get its own competent people to draft workable, competent legislation - not relying on hacks like Mukasey's Executive Crimes Cover Up lawyers at DOJ and not with an intent of protecting Executive Branch criminals and Congressional co-conspirators that trumps logic, reason and justice.
Congress also has to get to work on the Torture Conventions and Geneva Conventions and more and mo betta enabling legislation and to figure out what it will do for recompense for victims of Bush-DOJ authorized torture and how it will address the untenable situation of non-enemy combatants who have now been held for years and who face torture if sent to their countries of citizenship. That's real, that a huge problem, that's one that Bush and his co-conspirators have buried and will continue to bury, abuse and misuse unless and until Congress gets its act together.
Mukasey is slime and his lobbing the stink bomb at an AEI backscratcher is low, but Congress does have the ball in its court and it so far has just passed one atrocious piece of legislation after another and it needs to clean house.
July 21, 2008 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oddly I agree as well,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Commissions_Act
So people are angry on the hill.. hmmmm best send a strongly worded letter.
Really though I say let the hearings proceed so that the illustration of the process is better understood.
Jane Mayer's Darkside gets allot of promotion when statements like this are made.
The DOD is in a no-win scenario of public scrutiny as the ball is tossed back and forth from justice to the hill in an election year.
And the fact that the Supreme Court has problems with the whole concept behind some or all of this well... makes the debacle more interesting.
Section 7 of the MCA was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on 12 June 2008.[5]
Hmmmmmmmmm
Best to vote to provide immunity for crimes uninvestigated to get past this problem, or.. tell the DOD to find them all guilty of terrorism.. that will make the problems go away.. or as "Mukasey suggests; have Congress pass an act that is not in violation of the constitution."
If Mukasey is simply asking congress to pass an act that is not unconstitutional or revise section 7 of the Military commission act of 2006 then I agree with him on the point made, but also observe that he "placed the blame" of the larger debacle on Congress in rewarding them for their efforts to rationalize the acts that the courts found unconstitutional performed at the directive of the executive office if the vice presidents office isnn't a barnalce.
Ergo, if the VPOTUS office is not a barnacle then yes congress must revisit Section 7 of the MCA was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on 12 June 2008.[5]
If the VPOTUS office IS A BARNACLE.. well according to Cheney logic, the office is not part of the executive branch and ergo doesn't have to worry about the constitution and they have no idea why Mukasey is asking for clarification.
I say clarify if there is a barnacle or not, and we have the answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 21, 2008 11:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mukasey and the administration are rightly afraid of the courts because their actions will be subject to scrutiny. He seeks to by-pass that scrutiny, a la the telcom suits. They might very well get away with it.
July 21, 2008 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't it congress's "job" as defined by the:
US Constitution
Article One
Section 8: The Congress shall have power
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
The senators should quit their complaining and get on to business.
July 21, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
They are only words. Nice words but, in todays United States, only words non the less.
July 22, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
It may not have gone without saying, so I'll say it - my list of things Congress should do on their rule changes would be a leeeetle bit different than Mukasey's parade of horribles he trots out as what he wants from them.
And while I appreciate Feingold's take that Congress will accomplish more waiting around for an administration that respect law more, otoh there are people who have been held now for years and years - there may well be people who will die while waiting for that new adminsitration, families who won't see their disappeared family members, evidence that will be destroyed, etc. all while Congress just waits around.
And the courts can't always be expected to be the Fixer, especially when we have seen the courts defer to the Executive and toss the Arar and el-Masri cases, despite worldwide acknowledgement that Bushies had those men kidnapped and tortured.
July 21, 2008 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said -- in both messages.
I realize the Democrats have only a slim majority in Congress, and that it is difficult to achieve very much when Congressional Republicans will always march in lock-step with a Republican President, but dammit, they could at least try. I have far more respect for a politician who tries and falls short than one who simply shrugs and says, "But what can you do?"
July 21, 2008 10:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't there language in the constitution, about the right to form militias when government no longer has the consent of the governed.
July 21, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, I think you are thinking about the Declaration of Independence:
Part of the impetus to scrapping the Articles of Confederation and drafting the current Constitution was to give the government increased power to put down such militia uprisings. (See "Shays' Rebellion" and "Whiskey Rebellion")
July 21, 2008 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, it's more than that.
BMukasey and the rest of BushCo want to coopt Congress into nailing some jello to the wall.
Congress doesn't want to go along.
The Democratic-controlled Congress is still afraid of the GWOT/Soft on Terror GOP talking points.
So, rather than going past calling Mukasey to seriously raising the bet, Congressional Dems go chicken-shit.
July 21, 2008 11:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remind me again, who was it confirmed Mukasey to the AG position and spoke glowingly about him?
Any buyer's remorse ya' think?
July 23, 2008 9:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think...MUKASY is gonna be successful trying to get CONGRESS TO TAKE A JUDICIARY ROLE, after the FEd Judges have done their job--RESTORING HABEAS CORPUS?
THE LAST laws gutted HABEAS...so Mukasy seems to live in denial about "THE JUDICIARY'S ROLL IN DETERMINATIONS OF CONSTITUTIONALITY"?
July 23, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink