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AlterNet: The Mix is the Message   Rights & Liberties Newsletter
February 11th, 2009
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Obama's Legal Team Copies Bush's 'State Secrets' Trick to Cover Up Torture and Renditions  

Obama's Legal Team Copies Bush's 'State Secrets' Trick to Cover Up Torture and Renditions
By Liliana Segura, AlterNet
Attorneys representing the Obama administration are defending one of the most controversial practices of the Bush administration. Read more »

 

This past Monday, attorneys representing Obama's Department of Justice took a page out of the Bush administration's playbook and adopted it as their own. DOJ lawyers stood up in a federal court and declared that, under the government's "state secrets" privilege, they intended to prevent victims of extraordinary rendition from seeking justice in U.S. courts. For the ACLU, which represents the five plaintiffs in the case, Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, this was the darkest and most disturbing of development in Obama's first term.

"Eric Holder's Justice Department stood up in court today and said that it would continue the Bush policy of invoking state secrets to hide the reprehensible history of torture, rendition and the most grievous human rights violations committed by the American government," Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU said. "This is not change. This is definitely more of the same."

Human rights groups fought hard against the abuse of the state secrets doctrine during the Bush years when it came to covering up the government's unlawful activities, from warrantless wiretapping to torture. If Obama's Department of Justice truly intends to continue this shameful practice, it is up to us to raise our voices in protest. Go here to learn what you can do.

Thanks for reading,

Liliana Segura

Editor, Rights & Liberties Special Coverage

 

Facing Foreclosure? Don't Leave. Squat.  

Facing Foreclosure? Don't Leave. Squat.

In a recent interview, Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur told Americans: 'Be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave.' Read more »

So We're Indicting Baseball Players, But Not DOJ Officials for False Testimony to Congress?  

So We're Indicting Baseball Players, But Not DOJ Officials for False Testimony to Congress?

This is the latest sign that there are skewed law enforcement priorities within the Justice Department. Read more »

Why Are we Keeping Old Ladies Locked Up in Prison?  

Why Are we Keeping Old Ladies Locked Up in Prison?

Nonviolent and medically neglected, elderly prisoners in California routinely die horrible deaths. Read more »

Guantanamo on the Brink: Death Looms for Inmates Amid Hunger Strikes and Beatings  

Guantanamo on the Brink: Death Looms for Inmates Amid Hunger Strikes and Beatings

Dozens of hunger strikes, beatings, instances of forced feeding and other atrocities have reportedly reduced Guantanamo to near chaos. Read more »

On Truth Commission, Obama Is Playing Politics With Executive Abuses of Power  

On Truth Commission, Obama Is Playing Politics With Executive Abuses of Power

Obama is rebuffing even the most feeble attempts at accountability for the crimes of the Bush administration. Read more »

Indefinite Detention Case Will Test Obama's Pledges  

Indefinite Detention Case Will Test Obama's Pledges

The Supreme Court is poised to hear what could be one of the most consequential cases in U.S. history. Read more »

  PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web  

ColorOfChange.org Fights for Justice in Oscar Grant Case  

ColorOfChange.org Fights for Justice in Oscar Grant Case

ColorOfChange.org confront District Attorney Tom Orloff over his handling of the Oscar Grant case. Read more »

Terrifying: Companies are Marketing Police State Normalcy to Children  

Terrifying: Companies are Marketing Police State Normalcy to Children

Hey kids, wanna play security checkpoint? Read more »

Invalidate Prop 8: Tell the CA State Supreme Court What Fidelity Really Means  

Invalidate Prop 8: Tell the CA State Supreme Court What Fidelity Really Means

The Courage Campaign attempts to reject Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund. Read more »

 

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