Oct 6th, 2009
Posted by Jessica Monaco, ACLU at 4:56pm	Detention, Safe Communities, Fair Sentences

Justice Means Sometimes Having to Say You're Sorry

The New Yorker's Amy Davidson points out a fatal flaw in the administration's justification for continued detentions at Guantánamo:

The difficulty in releasing him was that he might be mad at us for holding him unjustly? How is that solved by continuing to hold him unjustly? Wouldn’t he just get madder? Sometimes our government acts like one of those guys who doesn’t want to tell his wife he’s been fired so he leaves in his suit every morning and lets her carry on until she suddenly learns that the house is in foreclosure and the credit cards don’t work.

Could America stop being that guy already?

Guantánamo will continue to be a stain on the country for as long as we continue to unjustly hold people without charge or trial. It doesn't make us any safer; in fact, it makes us less safe. Close Guantánamo, charge those who we have enough evidence against, and release those who we continue to hold for no good reason. "Too difficult to charge; too dangerous to release" sells our Constitution, and all Americans, short.

Permalink |	Detention, Safe Communities, Fair Sentences

1. why stop there Says:
   Oct 6th, 2009 at 9:43pm

   * also please stop murdering people all over the world for oil, empire, theft, banking, and drugs kthx.

2. Gerard Elling Says:
   Oct 6th, 2009 at 10:13pm

   This circular logic is the same sort used by Obama to justify not even attempting to get a Single Payer system for Health Care thru Congress.
   To paraphrase:
   We already have a system of thievery owned by insurance comapnies so we can't do Single Payer because they are already here first.
   The same sort of dodgy behavior is exhibited towards Gay Rights.
   Do not forget the justifications for TARP and it's inefective targeting to support the major financials as versus the hurting people and small business owners.
   Remember BO was "educated" at Harvard, which means he got a full dose of WASP ideology.
   He aced it! :)~

3. THE LOUISIANAEXPLORER Says:
   Oct 11th, 2009 at 11:00am

   Justice also requires individuals to take bold stands and in some cases live by a set of standards more stringent that the populace the individual has sworn to protect and serve. In 1924 Harvey G. Fields attended his first Democratic National Convention. This was the first of four. In 25 he traveled to Dayton, Tennessee to see his two friends, Bryan and Darrow fight over the merits of teaching evolution to students in Tennessee. He rebuked Darrow for using the trial to attack Bryan's belief in Christianity instead of the merits of teaching evolution. In 25 he also became head of the Louisiana Democratic Central Committee. In 27 he became a member of Huey Long's law firm where he fought for the common labor class in Louisiana. In 28 he crafted the method to have Long's delegation selected for the Democratic Convention and then fought Carter Glass on the floor to have it successfully seated. In 32 he became Chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and in 37 Roosevelt appointed him as Federal Prosecutor of the Western District of Louisiana. In 39 he developed the initial case against Governor Leche and his administration which led to the indictment of 200 individuals in Louisiana. Fields knew he was destroying an organization that was devoutly loyal to the Washington leadership but he still pursued it as this was the right thing to do. Fields was not reappointed as the Federal Prosecutor following the trial despite the majority of the Louisiana Congressmetn, Lawyers, District Attorneys and newly elected Governor Sam Jones requesting it. Question: Is there integrety today in the legal communitiy to potentially throw aware a very lucrative career to stand up and take a leadership position for what is right. Darrow did it when he quit the rail road and took the case for a worker against the company he represented. If anyone is interested in the noble life of Harvey G. Fields, you may want to review "I Called Him Grand. The Lost Political of Harvey G. Fields" or visit thomastfieldsjr.com .