Senators Kyl and Graham's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Scam:

By JOHN W. DEAN

Senators Kyl and Graham's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Scam:

Fri Jul 7, 2006 21:09

Senators Kyl and Graham's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Scam: The Deceptive Amicus Brief They Filed in the Guantanamo Detainee Case
By JOHN W. DEAN
Wednesday, Jul. 05, 2006

Last week, the Supreme Court issued its historic decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. There, it dealt a substantial blow to the Bush/Cheney Administration's plans for the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and, potentially, elsewhere as well - ruling out, for instance, the option of using military commissions without due process to try detainees.

The decision itself has been widely discussed. Less widely discussed, however, has been its backstory.

The Bush/Cheney Administration has been doing everything possible to keep its treatment of purported terrorist detainees out of the federal courts, particularly the Supreme Court. To assist the Administration, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jon Kyl of Arizona engaged in a blatant scam that was revealed during the briefing of Hamdan.

Senators Graham and Kyl not only misled their Senate colleagues, but also shamed their high offices by trying to deliberately mislead the U.S. Supreme Court. Their effort failed. I have not seen so blatant a ploy, or abuse of power, since Nixon's reign.

To understand their ruse, a bit of background information about both the Hamdan case and the Detainee Treatment Act is necessary.

The Chronology Of The Hamdan Case

Salim Ahmed Hamdan is undoubtedly a bad fellow. Indeed, he is claimed to have once served as Osama bin Laden's driver and bodyguard. Hamdan was captured by tribal forces and turned over to the U.S. Military in November 2001, during the hostilities in Afghanistan against the Taliban. In June 2002, Hamdan was sent to Guantanamo.

In July 2003, the President designated Hamdan for trial by military commission, and in December 2003, Hamdan was given military counsel. In February 2004, Hamdan's attorneys filed an action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) asking that formal charges be made against Hamdan, and that he be given a speedy trial. The U.S. military, however, held that the UCMJ did not apply.

Next Hamdan's attorney filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal court, to test the legality of his detention. That petition made its way from the state of Washington, where it was filed, to Washington, DC.
FULL REPORT W/LINKS:>>
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060705.html

The Hoax Fails: The Supreme Court Is Not Fooled

Hamdan's lawyers, however, spotted the hoax. In their opposition to the motion to dismiss the case, they advised the Court that the supposedly conflicting legislative history was entirely invented after the fact, and that it consisted of "a single scripted colloquy that never actually took place, but was instead inserted into the record after the legislation had passed." The brief noted, quite accurately, that this Graham-Kyl colloquy was "simply an effort to achieve after passage of the Act precisely what [they] failed to achieve in the legislative process."

Ultimately, the Supreme Court did not decide the jurisdictional issue until it rendered its full ruling on June 29 of this year. There, Justice Stevens concluded correctly that the Congress had not stripped the Court of jurisdiction with the DTA.

Out of an apparent concern for interbranch comity, the High Court has chosen to ignore the bogus brief filed by Senators Graham and Kyl, rather than reprimanding the Senators. Nevertheless, when Graham and Kyl sought to file the very same brief, a month later, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columba, Slate's Emily Bazelon reports that court "issued an unusual order rejecting" their amicus brief alone, although they accepted five others.

No one familiar with this remarkable behavior by Graham and Kyl can doubt why the court did not want to hear from these senators.

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In 2001 he published "The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court;" in early 2004, "Warren G. Harding," followed by "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush." His newest book is "Conservatives Without Conscience."
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/

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Why Are Americans So Angry? — APFN, Fri Jul 7 16:38

CNN: President George W. Bush and Laura Bush — CNN LARRY KING, Fri Jul 7 17:15

Senators Kyl and Graham's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Scam: — By JOHN W. DEAN, Fri Jul 7 21:09

7/7/06 - INTERVIEW W/ JOHN DEAN, MAJORITY REPORT — MAJORITY REPORT, Fri Jul 7 21:37

Sen. Jon Kyl not intend to deceive the U.S. Supreme Court — By Paul Giblin, Tribune, Fri Jul 7 20:20

Sen. Kyl Dishonest About Being Dishonest — APFN, Sat Jul 8 00:26