Justice at the Price of Safety

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

A unified approach to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will be crucial in order to meet the one-year deadline signed into law in January by President Obama, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

Holder said the Department has "no choice but to release" some of the detainees. He said they must be released because otherwise an order from the In terms of release, we have to release them or an order from the U.S. courts would be defied.

The Department of Justice is taking the lead from the work set out by President Barack Obama to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and ensure that the policies going forward “live up to our nation’s value,” said Holder.

The Guantanamo Review Task Force will make decisions about where detainees will be housed on an individual basis. Holder said that Task Force's decisions will be guided by “what is in the interest of national security, the foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.”

Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said “the President has announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay without any plan for the terrorists detained there and has admitted that he cannot guarantee that those detainees who are released will not seek to attack our country again.”

In response, Holder reiterated that the Department isn’t going “to do anything, anything that would put the American people at risk. Nothing.”

Senator Leahy willing to take on Republicans over Obama's nominee for Attorney General

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced his support for Obama's Attorney General nominee Eric Holder.The Senator was joined, at his press conference, by heads of numerous law enforcement agencies.

"He has experience in law enforcement. He has a record of strong, independent, and effective action. He's been an anti corruption prosecutor, he's prosecuted both Republicans and Democrats alike. He has experience in the Justice Department," said Leahy.

In recent weeks, Obama's nominee has garnered criticism from a number of conservatives. Former Bush adviser Karl Rove accused Holder of being involved with Clinton's pardon of controversial financier Marc Rich in an early December episode of "The Today Show". Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, also challenged Holder's character, insinuating that the former Deputy Attorney General had an inability to say 'no' to a President.

Leahy dismissed the Republican attacks and brought up the confirmation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

"Whatever standard they used to justify their decision to support Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales...the nomination of Eric Holder far, far exceeds that standard," stated Leahy.

"Every Senator has the right to vote for an against any nominee, but I guarantee you this: Eric Holder will be confirmed as Attorney General of the United States."

Attorney General: Enemy combatants have constitutional right to challenge their detention

Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaking at the American Enterprise Institute [AEI] today called on Congress to act on detainees at Guantanamo Bay possibly trying to usurp the court system. Under the rules of habeas corpus, the 270 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions. The overriding issue facing the judicial system at the moment is when they are allowed to pursue legal action under habeas corpus. Mukasey called on Congress to draft legislation that would “act to resolve these difficult questions that have been left unanswered.”

Mukasey believes that under the modernization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] the next administration will have what they need to “get the job done,” said Mukasey. According to Mukasey, the passage and ultimate signature of the president on FISA “shows how our branches of government can work together.” But Mukasey was quick to reiterate the administrations support not only on FISA but on detaining enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay. “The United States has every right to detain enemy combatants who wish the United States harm,” said Mukasey.

Aiming more of his remarks at Congress Mukasey called on Congress to “reaffirm for the duration of the conflict [In Iraq and Afghanistan] the ability to detain enemy combatants.” Mukasey closed by saying that “Congress should make sure that the detainees cannot use other alternatives to challenge their detainment.”

Fight violence against women "as it travels", says Mukasey

A block away from the Potomac River at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Attorney General Michael Mukasey lauded the Office of Violence Against Women's (OVW) efforts to fight sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and domestic violence across the country at the second Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Regional Summit.

"Let me be clear. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is committed to fighting violence against women," Mukasey said.

According to Mukasey, since its founding in October 2003, the President's Family Justice Center Initiative has granted $20 million to 15 communities across the country for a pilot program that will develop and implement service and support for domestic violence victims. As an example, Mukasey described the center in New Orleans where victims can speak with police, lawyers, therapists, or councilors, as well as file court documents "under one roof."

The Domestic Violence Intervention Division in the Sheriff's Office of Prince George's County, Md., has received funding from the DOJ since 2004 through the Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grant program. With the funding, the sheriffls office has been able to establish a victim's advocate unit that runs 24/7 and specializes in domestic violence 911 calls.

OVW has helped find the best strategies for fighting violence against women and shared these strategies with communities across the country, Mukasey said. This is important because all women should feel safe in every corner of the U.S. Washington, D.C. can serve as a model for the rest of the country, Mukasey said.

Afghanistan: Not playing by the rule of law

Dr. Adbul Jabbar Sabit, the Attorney General of Afghanistan spoke about the rule of law and its presence in Afghanistan. He said rule of law is a problem in Afghanistan and in the last 20 months he visited 18 provinces and made around 370 arrests. He said the arrests were mainly high-ranking officials, like deputy governors and chief financial officers of the provinces.

He said one of the main problems with the rule of law in Afghanistan is that the court system, which is completely independent, is full of corruption. As a result, he said, a fair percent of the perpetrators were acquitted and those that were convicted received much less severe sentences than their crimes called for.

He said that in a lot of provinces not all citizens are equal, for example, some of the governors are really warlords and perpetrate criminal action in their provinces. Sadit said that these warlord governors are too powerful for the government to restrain and therefore above the law.