Feingold Plans Hearing On Obama's Detention Policy

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May 22 2009, 5:23 pm by Marc Ambinder

Feingold Plans Hearing On Obama's Detention Policy

Sen. Russ Feingold plans a hearing in June about President Obama's plan to seek "prolonged detention" without trial for some of the Guantanamo detainees. In a letter to Obama, Feingold writes that while he appreciates Obama's "good faith desire to at least enact a statutory basis for such a regime, any system that permits the government to indefinitely detain individuals without charge or without a meaningful opportunity to have accusations against them adjudicated by an impartial arbiter violates basic American values and is likely unconstitutional."

Comments (2)

Dredd May 23, 2009 1:57 PM

That dog won't hunt.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that detainees may use the federal courts via the great writ to make the administration show they have good cause to hold anyone in confinement.

Accusations without legal evidence will not justify detention.

That has been good law since the Magna Carta.

The Obama admin must also face up in the NSA spying on Americans case.

notavailable (Replying to: Dredd) May 24, 2009 5:00 PM

Lets certainly hope so that the courts would stand up. Congress for the most part has just rolled over for the Bush/Cheney/Obama arguments.

And three cheers for Russ Feingold. I wish he (and not Obama) was the Democratic nominee in 2008. But I am sure that the media would have skewered Feingold with the "too extreme left and cannot be trusted" meme.