Hedges v. Obama : The Supreme Court Digs Its Head Deeper Into the Sand

Source: http://ift.tt/hFWySe - Tuesday, April 29, 2014

On Monday the Supreme Court declined to consider Hedges v. Obama , a constitutional claim challenging a law that could enable the indefinite military detention of U.S. citizens -- within the U.S. -- without trial, charge, or evidence of crime. The decision is remarkable both for its implications for fundamental rights and for its reflection on judicial independence. A Dangerous and Controversial Law When the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 was first signed into law on the last day of 2011, few observers noticed. Some version of the bill is passed every year, but the 2012 version inserted dangerous provisions that could expand the military's domestic detention powers . Several notable observers did take notice, however. Despite her complicity in mass NSA surveillance, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has spoken out against torture as well as detention. When Congress debated the 2013 NDAA in 2012, she unsuccessfully tried to limit the detention provisions through amendments. Military families also spoke out, supporting a county resolution in El Paso County, Colo. (the site of several military installations, including the Air Force Academy), that passed even before the bill became law. They recognized: [O]ne of our most fundamental rights as American citizens is to be free from unreasonable detention without due process of law, a right afforded to us by our Founding Fathers and guaranteed to

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