WASHINGTON (AP) A federal prosecutor in a major terrorism case in Detroit has taken the rare step of suing Attorney General John Ashcroft, alleging the Justice Department interfered with the case, compromised a confidential informant and exaggerated results in the war on terrorism.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino of Detroit accused the Justice Department of ''gross mismanagement'' of the war on terrorism in a whistleblower lawsuit filed late Friday in federal court in Washington.
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/048/wash/Prosecutor_at_center_of_contro:.shtml
...MKB v. Warden is the first indication that the Justice Department is extending its total secrecy policy to proceedings in federal courts dealing with habeas corpus - that is, an individual's right to force the government to justify his or her detention.
The case offers the Supreme Court an opportunity for the first time to spell out whether such secret judicial proceedings violate constitutional protections. It may also offer the first insight into how much deference a majority of justices is willing to grant the government in areas where the war on terrorism may tread upon fundamental American freedoms.
From the perspective of news reporters and government watchdogs, the case marks a potential turning point away from a long-held presumption that judicial proceedings in the US are open to public scrutiny.
The case is one of several currently on petition to the high court dealing with some aspect of the war on terror. Two cases relate to detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and one challenges Yasser Hamdi's open-ended detention as an enemy combatant. A fourth case seeks to force the Justice Department to disclose the names of detainees caught up in antiterror investigations - an issue closely related to the Miami habeas case.
Federal judges have the authority to order sensitive documents or even entire hearings sealed from public view when disclosure might harm national security. Such rulings are usually issued after the judge has explained the need for secrecy in a decision available to the public.
In addition, judges can order that an individual be identified in public court filings only by a pseudonym or by initials, as happened when the MKB case arrived at the US Supreme Court.
What is highly unusual in MKB v. Warden is that lower court judges ordered the entire case sealed from the start - preventing any mention of it to the public.
'Abuse of discretion'?
In her petition to the court, Miami federal public defender Kathleen Williams says the judges' actions authorizing the secrecy without any public notice, public hearings, or public findings amount to "an abuse of discretion" that requires corrective action by the justices.
"This habeas corpus case has been heard, appealed, and decided in complete secrecy," Ms. Williams says in her petition.
A government response to the petition is due Nov. 5. It will mark the first time the Justice Department has publicly acknowledged the existence of the habeas corpus action. The justices are set to consider the case during their Nov. 7 conference...
http://csmonitor.com/2003/1030/p01s02-usju.html
UNCIVIL LIBERTIES
Providence residents press anti-Patriot Act stance
BY IAN DONNIS
A crowd of residents this week urged the Providence City Council to join the more than 200 US communities that have taken an official stand against the USA Patriot Act...
...While the threat to citizens is worrisome enough, Goldrick says, the ways in which the Patriot Act can be used against non-citizens are particularly troubling. "They really have almost no rights if someone on the federal level thinks they might be related to terrorism," she says. "They can be held without bail, without trial, they can be threatened with a military tribunal, and they can be denied access to a lawyer. All of this just really disturbed me deeply," as does her belief that Ashcroft and other Bush officials are using 9/11 as a pretext for diminishing civil liberties.
After many communities, including Chicago and the town of New Shoreham, on Block Island, have passed anti-Patriot Act resolutions, local activists plan to continue their efforts in Providence (more information can be found on the Web site of the Rhode Island Bill of Rights Defense Committee at www.citizeninfo.org). As Goldrick says, "We will be keeping up with the city council. We’ll continue to call, and write, and e-mail, to encourage them to pass this resolution."
http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/tji/documents/03218975.asp
By ERIC LICHTBLAU The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — The Bush administration, which calls the USA Patriot Act perhaps its most essential tool in fighting terrorists, has begun using the law with increasing frequency in many criminal investigations that have little or no connection to terrorism...
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=68&u=/nyt/20030927/ts_nyt/ususesterrorlawtopursuecrimesfromdrugstoswindling&printer=1
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