Posted on 12/18/2009 8:34:33 AM PST by Sergeant Tim
Thomson prison: Illinois attorney general rules Gov. Pat Quinn can sell Thomson prison
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Thursday that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has the authority to sell the state prison that the federal government wants to use for terrorist suspects now at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The legal opinion by the Democratic chief legal officer swept aside Republican questions on whether state law required lawmakers to sign off before the barely used Thomson Correctional Center in northwestern Illinois could be sold.
Madigan wrote that state law provides the governor with the necessary authority to close and sell the prison to the Obama administration. Quinn must follow a series of steps that include getting three appraisals and declaring Thomson surplus property -- a condition Republicans argue is debatable when other state prisons are overcrowded. Quinn's administration hailed Madigan's opinion for affirming the governor's belief that he didn't need lawmakers' approval. "The acquisition of the facility by the federal government to house federal detainees will bring 3,000 jobs to the region and generate $1 billion in economic activity," Quinn spokeswoman Marlena Jentz said. The only hearing on the Thomson matter is Tuesday in nearby Sterling. Legislators on a bipartisan commission will recommend whether the state should close the prison, but Quinn can accept or ignore it. -- Chicago Tribune, 12/18/09
Know When to Hold Them
No country would take Zadvydas, and his detention went beyond the statutory 90-period. The Supreme Court weighed in, stating: "…once an alien enters the country, the legal circumstance changes, for the Due Process Clause applies to all 'persons' within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent." The Court did allow for the possibility that a certain class of deportable aliens could be indefinitely detained -- those to whom a "special justification" applied, one that "outweighs the 'individual's constitutionally protected interest in avoiding physical restraint.'" The Court then went one step further and said that legislation authorizing indefinite detention might be narrowly applied "to a small segment of particularly dangerous individuals…say suspected terrorists." But Zadvydas did not fit that category, making his detention unconstitutional by virtue of his physical presence in the United States. -- Ben Lerner, 12/17/09, The American Spectator [Editor -- Obama and Holder are reckless; Zadvydas was at least convicted prior to his appeal. If a jury finds any of the 60 brought into the U.S. not guilty and no country takes those acquitted off our hands, Congress seems disinclined to exercise its Constitutional authority to rescind the Judiciary branch's say over detentions.]
Dead Wrong Durbin; The law will not stop the courts from releasing foreign jihadists in the United States.
Based on Boumediene, Zadvydas, and other alien-friendly jurisprudence, we can predict that, once the detainees are physically in the United States, there will be plenty of judges who will find: (a) that the detainees enjoy the same broad range of constitutional protections as illegal aliens; (b) that the judicial power to review detention necessarily implies a companion power to order the release of any detainees determined not to be enemy combatants; and (c) that detainees found not to be enemy combatants must be released inside the United States if no other country is willing to take them. If the judges base such rulings on the Constitution, it will not matter if Congress has enacted a statute barring release. It is black-letter law that a statute cannot override a command of the Constitution, and judges have long claimed the power to be the ultimate arbiter of what the Constitution commands — a claim that has been indulged by the political branches. -- Andy McCarthy, 12/18/09, National Review Online [Editor -- Obama would have to have a 'FDR moment' to defy the courts.]
US Republican leader: Don't bet on Gitmo transfers
Representative John Boehner said at least at least two pieces of legislation would have to go through Congress before the U.S. government can move any of the detainees to an Illinois prison -- and he doubted either bill would pass. "I wouldn't want to bet on when those two pieces of legislation will pass, if ever," Boehner told reporters. The Democrats have a majority in both houses of Congress, but lawmakers in both parties are nervous about President Barack Obama's pledge to close the prison camp at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that houses foreign terrorism suspects. -- Reuters, 12/17/09 [Editor -- With due respect to Congressman Boehner, it is not clear that the language in enacted law prohibits the transfer of any of the detainees at Gitmo. I am not being an alarmist; it will depend upon how the Obama administration reads current law and if they apply it liberally, if Congress acts affirmatively to halt the transfer.]
Ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.