Judge Rules That U.S. Has Broad Powers to Detain Noncitizens Indefinitely

NY Times ^ | June 15, 2006 | NINA BERNSTEIN

[neverdem]

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the government has wide latitude under immigration law to detain noncitizens on the basis of religion, race or national origin, and to hold them indefinitely without explanation.

The ruling came in a class-action lawsuit by Muslim immigrants detained after 9/11, and it dismissed several key claims the detainees had made against the government. But the judge, John Gleeson of United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, allowed the lawsuit to continue on other claims, mostly that the conditions of confinement were abusive and unconstitutional. Judge Gleeson's decision requires top federal officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, to answer to those accusations under oath.

This is the first time a federal judge has addressed the issue of discrimination in the treatment of hundreds of Muslim immigrants who were swept up in the weeks after the 2001 terror attacks and held for months before they were cleared of links to terrorism and deported. The roundups drew intense criticism, not only from immigrant rights advocates, but also from the inspector general of the Justice Department, who issued reports saying that the government had made little or no effort to distinguish between genuine suspects and Muslim immigrants with minor visa violations.

Lawyers in the suit, who vowed to appeal yesterday's decision, said parts of the ruling could potentially be used far more broadly, to detain any noncitizen in the United States for any reason.

"This decision is a green light to racial profiling and prolonged detention of noncitizens at the whim of the president," said Rachel Meeropol, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the detainees. "The decision is profoundly disturbing because it legitimizes the fact that the Bush administration..."

[neverdem]

Rachel Meeropol, IIRC, is the granddaughter of the convicted and executed Julius and Ehtel Rosenberg. Pardon me, but this is why the left must be monitored, i.e. reading the NY Times.

[kingu]

The decision is profoundly disturbing because it legitimizes the fact that the Bush administration...

I love how the excerpt places it perfectly. There's their objection. It makes things legitimate. Whoops, sorry, lefties, you lost. But please, don't get over it, keep fighting. It helps.

As to the ruling - what a shocker here. Pretty much has been established law since the founding of the nation, and to overturn it would be to say that most actions since the founding were illegal. You really can't pull that type of thing.

[neverdem]

Pardon me, but that's Ethel Rosenberg.

[gondramB]

>>A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the government has wide latitude under immigration law to detain noncitizens on the basis of religion, race or national origin, and to hold them indefinitely without explanation.<<

If this stands I wonder if this will be reciprocal - will we accept that other countries have the right to hold Americans who violate their visas (or don't have a visa) indefinitely without explanation?

[Lurker]

will we accept that other countries have the right to hold Americans who violate their visas (or don't have a visa) indefinitely without explanation?

We already do.

L

[Recovering_Democrat]

Excellent catch! Of course, the NY Slimes would never give a reader the context or background and motivations of a leftist's opinions....knowing this person's relatives were executed SPIES against America might inform the casual reader of the Slimes.

[nopardons]

BTTT

[TheWasteLand]

Rachel Meeropol, IIRC, is the granddaughter of the convicted and executed Julius and Ehtel Rosenberg.

Nicely spotted!

[gondramB]

>>Pardon me, but that's Ethel Rosenberg.<<

I thought they got their charges presented, had lawyers and a trial. I'm pretty sure they were even allowed to appeal and it eventually got to the supreme court.

[Recovering_Democrat]

SHOCKER: Judge Gleeson is a CLINTON appointee!



John Gleeson was appointed as a United States District Judge on September 28,1994, and entered on duty on October 24, 1994. Judge Gleeson went to college at Georgetown University and received his law degree in 1980 from the University of Virginia School of Law. After serving as a law clerk for a year for the Hon. Boyce F. Martin, Jr., United States Circuit Judge in the Sixth Circuit, Judge Gleeson was a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore from 1981 to 1985.

Gleeson bio

[neverdem]

If I didn't catch it, I should be declared demented. All this idiocy about not reading the NY Times dumfounds me. It's their party organ, without any shame!

[nopardons]

Spot on....now go read your FREEPmail. :-)

[tcrlaf]

She's Also head of the Lawyer's Union (new York??) , a COMMUNIST PARTY organization.......

Funny how the NYT will NEVER tell you she's an avowed Communist, eh??

[Rapscallion]

Thank you Judge Gleeson. It is a prudent and reasonable ruling on what the law actually is.

[StACase]

Amendment XIV
1. ... nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

[browardchad]

A spokesman for the government, Charles S. Miller, would not respond to those assertions, saying only that the Justice Department was "very pleased that the court upheld the decision to detain plaintiffs, all of whom were illegal aliens, until national security investigations were completed and plaintiffs were removed from the country." He said the government was reviewing the rest of the opinion to decide whether to appeal the rulings Judge Gleeson made to allow the plaintiffs' other claims to proceed.

I'd guess that most of these detainees are claiming they will be tortured if returned to their country of origin, and subsequently it may take years to get rid of them. In the meantime, releasing them with an order to appear for a deportation hearing has not exactly been effective in the past. If just one of them is released and subsequently commits a terrorist act, the media outcry of crocodile tears will have the usual element of amnesia with regard to the indefinite detention issue.

[Shimmer128]

Are you the Spelling Police?? :O

[calex59]

Amendment XIV 1. ... nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This doesn't apply to ILLEGAL ALIENS, only to legal residents and citizens. People who are here illegally have no rights under the law. Spin all you want, the constitution is not for illegals, the constitution also gives each state the right to determine who is a legal resident or citizen within their state. Don't take one article out of context and try to justify illegal aliens being here and having rights. The only right they have is the right to be deported, and the sooner the better.

[Liz]

......I'd guess that most of these detainees are claiming they will be tortured if returned to their country of origin....

Nice take, all of it. Excerpting part I would reply to.........

The US government, and all of its trappings, and agencies, have been turned into a huge psychotherapy machine, designed to mobolize government power---and tax assets---to subsidize and shore-up the self-esteem problems of various hyphenated groups.

Anyone with a chip on their shoulder can claim victimization, persecution, discrmination, and is encouraged to apply for sanctuary on our shores which entitles then to numerous tax-subsidized financial benefits, head-of-the-line citizenship, and various other preference-based gov't programs.....all at our expense.

It's a big con game. To some of these scam artists, a day without "victimization" is like a day without sunshine.

Our lawmakers justify just about any tax-paid travesty as long as they're "feeling-good" about being "tolerant and compassionate" and can nail down campaign contributions and votes in the process, from various hyphenates.