http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm The Association of Young Americans Policy Issue of the day. en-us Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:31:56 -0400 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:38:00 -0400 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss young_americans@hotmail.com young_americans@hotmail.com http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/6/13/Supreme-Court-Ruling-on-Detainees Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that detainees had the right under the constitution to file Habeas Corpus petitions. The New York Times reported that "The court declared unconstitutional a provision of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that, at the administration's behest, stripped the federal courts of jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus petitions from the detainees seeking to challenge their designation as enemy combatants. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the truncated review procedure provided by a previous law, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, 'falls short of being a constitutionally adequate substitute" because it failed to offer "the fundamental procedural protections of habeas corpus.'" Justice Scalia, in his dissent, states: "The game of bait-and-switch that today's opinion plays upon the Nation's Commander in Chief will make the warharder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed. That consequence would be tolerable if necessary to preserve a time-honored legal principle vital to our constitutional Republic. But it is this Court's blatant abandonment of such a principle that produces thedecision today."Yahoo News noted that "President Bush said Thursday he would abide by the decision, but also said his administration was evaluating whether to respond to the court's ruling with new legislation." A complete copy of the Ruling can be found here. Share your views in our forums on what legal procedures and protections you think are appropriate in the context of the "War on Terror". Civil Rights Terrorism Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:38:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/6/13/Supreme-Court-Ruling-on-Detainees http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/4/4/40th-Anniversary-of-the-Assassination-of-Martin-Luther-King Forty Years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in Memphis, TN. The Day before his murder, Dr. King gave a speech, in Memphis. Here is an excerpt:"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind."Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! "And so I'm happy, tonight.I'm not worried about anything.I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"Clips of the speech and the full text are available at AmericanRhetoric.com. Share your thoughts about his legacy, and race relations in America in our Open Forum. Activism Civil Rights Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:31:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/4/4/40th-Anniversary-of-the-Assassination-of-Martin-Luther-King http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/2/25/Race-in-America At a well-regarded New England prep school, African American students received threatening letters last week. The Boston Globe reported that "The identical letters, which were sent to most, if not all, of the approximately 40 black students at St. Paul's, included each student's photo from the campus facebook and the words 'bang bang get out of here,' students said." An article in today's New York Times discusses concerns about the security of Senator Barack Obama. The Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is quoted as saying, "As an African-American who was witness to some of this nation's most shameful days during the civil rights movement, I know personally that the hatred of some of our fellow citizens can lead to heinous acts of violence. We need only to look to the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and 1968 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy as examples."What are your thoughts on the propriety of Hate Crimes laws? Do you think Senator Obama's security is of more concern because of his race? Share your ideas and questions in the Open Forum. 2008 election Civil Rights Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:38:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/2/25/Race-in-America http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/1/21/Dr-Martin-Luther-King-Day "Let us turn our thoughts todayTo Martin Luther KingAnd recognize that there are ties between usAll men and womenLiving on the earthTies of hope and loveSister and brotherhoodThat we are bound togetherIn our desire to see the world becomeA place in which our childrenCan grow free and strongWe are bound togetherBy the task that stands before usAnd the road that lies aheadWe are bound and we are bound."-Shed a little light, James Taylor"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Martin Luther King Jr."Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."-Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963, MLK "The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood." -Strength to Love, MLK "When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."-Where Do We Go From Here?, 1967, MLK Civil Rights Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:12:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/1/21/Dr-Martin-Luther-King-Day http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/7/21/Info-on-Gitmo-Detainees The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against the Justice Department, finding that the government has to disclose information on detainees contesting imprisonment. The NY Times reports that "the court said meaningful review of the military tribunals would not be possible 'without seeing all the evidence, any more than one can tell whether a fraction is more or less than half by looking only at the numerator and not the denominator.'" What are your thoughts about what kind of court process should be used for dealing with individuals the government finds to be enemy combatants? Are you concerned about government over reaching and denying due process under the guise of security? Are you concerned that some people are simply too dangerous? Share your thoughts and concerns in our Open Forum. Civil Rights Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:13:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/7/21/Info-on-Gitmo-Detainees http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/6/27/Even-with-release-of-documents-CIA-doesnt-tell-all The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the CIA released 693 pages of documents about spying on Americans, opening citizens' mail and plotting to kill foreign leaders, but vast sections were blocked out by agency censors. But as censored by the CIA, many of the most sensational events were mentioned in little more than one sketchy paragraph apiece. The new documents devoted two paragraphs to the programs that opened mail between U.S. citizens, the USSR and China. One paragraph said "Project Westpointer," from fall 1969 through October 1971, was based in the San Francisco area and the "target was mail to the United States from Mainland China." The question remains then, how much should our government keep secret from us? How much privacy are we, as citizen entitled to have? Are the same activities going on today that the CIA employed in the 1950s, 60s and 70s? Discuss your views on this issue in the Privacy Forum. Civil Rights Privacy Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:24:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/6/27/Even-with-release-of-documents-CIA-doesnt-tell-all http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/6/12/Cant-hold-Combatant-Indefintely The President is not permitted to detain indefinitely an "enemy combatant" without due process. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit held that "Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri cannot be held as a military detainee and is entitled to habeas corpus protections that give him the right to challenge his detainment in a U.S. civilian court. 'To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians, even if the president calls them enemy combatants, would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution and the country,' said Judge Diana Gribbon Motz in the majority opinion," as reported by the Washington Times. There was a dissenting opinion, stating that the President ad the authority to detain al-Marri as an enemy combatant since he is 'the type of stealth warrior used by al Qaeda to perpetrate terrorist acts against the United States.'" Do you think that President has, or should be given the power to indefinitely detain individuals without charging them with a crime, holding a trial, and other due process rights? If so under what circumstances? Share your thoughts in the Terrorism Forum. Civil Rights Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:09:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/6/12/Cant-hold-Combatant-Indefintely http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/1/15/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Day "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. [...]"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'"-Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963Share your thoughts on the life and legacy of Dr. King in our Open Forum. Civil Rights Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:32:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/1/15/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Day http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2006/11/29/Remedy-for-Mistaken-Incarceration A federal appeals court, that threw out the case of a German man held for months apparently by the CIA, is being asked to reconsider its decision by the man's attorney. The New York Times reports, "In May, a federal trial judge threw out the suit brought by Khaled el-Masri, who said he was an innocent victim of the Central Intelligence Agency's program of transferring terrorism suspects secretly to other countries for detention and interrogation. Judge T. S. Ellis III of Federal District Court in Alexandria said that although it appeared a great injustice might have been done to Mr. Masri, he was persuaded by the government that there was no way to even begin a trial without impermissibly disclosing state secrets. Benjamin Wizner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, told a three-judge appeals panel on Tuesday that the government's position was absurd because what happened to Mr. Masri had hardly remained secret. He noted that the German government was openly investigating whether its officials had played a role in Mr. Masri's ordeal, and numerous news accounts have quoted unidentified American officials as confirming what happened." There is a principle in law that there is no right without a remedy. Share your thoughts in the ongoing discussions on civil rights and security in our Open Forum - Young People and Civil Liberties. Civil Rights Wed, 29 Nov 2006 09:03:00 -0400 http://associationofyoungamericans.com/blog/index.cfm/2006/11/29/Remedy-for-Mistaken-Incarceration