Obama administration indefinite detention policy blocked

Good to see our system of checks and balances is working as intended…

The government may not rely on a disputed law enacted last year to hold people in indefinite military detention on suspicion that they “substantially supported” Al Qaeda or its allies — at least if they had no connection to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a federal judge said on Wednesday.

In an eight-page memorandum opinion and order, Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the Southern District of New York clarified a preliminary injunction she issued on May 16 in a lawsuit brought by journalists and activists who challenged the statute — a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 — and expressed fear that they could be detained.

Enactment of the statute, which is a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011, was controversial for a number of reasons, but perhaps most troubling (at least in my opinion) was the fact that the statute did not specifically outline what conduct could lead to an individual being detained, not to mention the absence of any mention in the statute about whether it could be extended to American citizens and others arrested on United States soil.

The statute in question always struck me as something I’d expect to see garner support from the George W. Bush administration, so the fact that President Obama’s administration supports indefinite detention (possibly of American citizens) without a trial leaves me questioning the value President Obama places on our Constitutionally-protected rights.