Civil Liberties & Privacy

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri: Charge Him or Release Him

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 16, 2005

When U.S. citizen Ahmed Abu Ali was recently returned to the United States to face criminal charges for terrorism, after some two years of detention in Saudi Arabia without being charged with a crime, he told U.S. Magistrate Liam O’Grady that he had been tortured by Saudi officials. Judge O’Grady ...

The Padilla Ruling Is a Victory for Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 2, 2005

As I have been writing for the past two years, it is impossible to overstate the importance of the Jose Padilla case. The power assumed by the U.S. military and the Bush administration in the Padilla case constitutes what is arguably the most ominous and dangerous threat to the ...

Henry David Thoreau and “Civil Disobedience,” Part 1

by Wendy McElroy March 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an introspective man who wandered the woods surrounding the small village of Concord, Massachusetts, recording the daily growth of plants and the migration of birds in his ever-present journal. How, then, did he profoundly influence such political giants as Mohandas Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Martin ...

Bush’s Presidential-Papers Power Grab

by James Bovard January 1, 2005

On November 1, 2001, President Bush issued an executive order entitled “Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act.” His order effectively overturned an act of Congress and a Supreme Court decision and could make it far more difficult for Americans to learn of government abuses. Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University ...

Equal Rights for the Disabled, Indeed

by Scott McPherson January 1, 2005

... a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. — Thomas Jefferson, 1801 Of all the misunderstandings that exist in ...

The Bill of Rights: Eminent Domain

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2004

One of the bedrocks of a free society is a system of private property. The concept of economic liberty is founded not only on principles of free enterprise but also on the principle that people have the right to accumulate the fruits of their earnings. If government has the power to arbitrarily seize a person’s wealth or property, then ...

Does John Ashcroft Understand the Constitution?

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 22, 2004

Learning that the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld the rights of habeas corpus, right to counsel, and due process of law in the Yaser Hamdi, Jose Padilla, and Shafiq Rasul cases, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft commented, “The Supreme Court accorded to terrorists, in a variety of cases this ...

Honor the Country by Distrusting the Government

by Sheldon Richman October 18, 2004

President Bush and his supporters base their case for his reelection ultimately on an appeal for trust. Bush asks us to trust that he acted in good faith when he invaded Iraq, even though the intelligence now looks bad. He asks us to trust his strategy for domestic security, even ...

The Hamdi Case Mocks Justice

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 4, 2004

Surrendering to the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Pentagon and the Justice Department have decided to release “unlawful combatant” and accused “terrorist” Yaser Esam Hamdi from the bowels of the Pentagon’s military brig in South Carolina. Any day now, a U.S. military plane is due to ...

Hearsay Convictions at Guantanamo

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 3, 2004

The Pentagon’s decision to admit hearsay evidence at its military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay flies in the face of one of the most important principles in the administration of criminal justice — the right to confront one’s accuser and cross-examine him in the presence of the jury. ...

The Bush Betrayal

by James Bovard August 27, 2004

As we defend liberty and justice abroad, we must always honor those values here at home. George W. Bush, October 28, 2003 George W. Bush came to the presidency promising prosperity, peace, and humility. Instead, Bush has spawned record federal budget deficits, launched an unnecessary war, and made America the most hated nation in the world. Bush ...

Criminal versus Civil Remedies for Intentional Wrongs

by Wendy McElroy August 13, 2004

On October 3, 1995, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murder by a jury in criminal court. On February 4, 1997, a civil jury found him liable for the death of Ronald Goldman and awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Goldman’s family. For many people, the Simpson ...