Top Court: Ashcroft, Mueller Not Liable For Muslim Civil Rights Violations

By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government allowed law enforcement officials to arrest people of “high interest” according to race, religion, or national origin, according to Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani citizen who was placed in a maximum-security prison in early 2002.

Iqbal claimed that the government’s decision violated his civil rights and he sued former U.S. Attorney General John Aschcroft and Robert Mueller, then-Director of the FBI.

Today, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Kennedy, ruled against Iqbal.

Kennedy wrote that Iqbal’s initial filings did not provide enough information to automatically find Ashcroft and Mueller responsible for the abuses he suffered while being held.

The case will now return to the lower courts, where Iqbal may have a chance to substantiate his claim that he was subjected to harsh conditions on account of his religion and nationality, and that Ashcroft and Mueller were the “principle architects” of this plan.

Four Justices dissented, and in an opinion written by Justice Souter agreed with the lower courts' findings that Ashcroft and Mueller did violate his civil rights and could therefore be held responsible.

OAS works to empower the poor

The Organization of American States (OAS), led by its Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, held their Ninth Policy Roundtable and Report Launch: a discussion on “Making the Law Work for Everyone.” Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State of the United States, began the discussion. She said that the majority of the world’s people are unable to use the law correctly; there are approximately four billion people worldwide that are outside the system in which law can work for them. Because of this, Albright explained that a vicious cycle is created that makes it even harder for poor people to escape poverty.

The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor is an independent commission hosted by the United Nations Development Programme and has many influential members such as Albright, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy, and Ambassador Roberto Alvarez. All three agreed upon the need to form a law which helps and protects everyone without discrimination. They also stressed that the commission needs to broaden its scope, focusing on four pillars: access to justice and the rule of law, property rights, labour rights, and business rights.

Kennedy explained how countries need to bond together as a region and take a common interest in fixing the law. He said that those in poverty view the law as a foe rather than a friend, and if the law does not accommodate their needs, they will go around it to make ends meet. Kennedy said that this view needs to be changed and that a legal system which is not corrupt needs to be created.

Alvarez agreed with Kennedy and said that corruption is the key obstacle when looking at poverty. He explained that the commission’s historical mission cannot be living in freedom with hunger, without education, and without healthcare. More possibilities need to be considered, education must be stressed, and more resources for the poor need to be created.

Witnesses rally for Congress to enforce right to vote for all

Senator Leahy chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee on a hearing titled "Protecting the Constitutional Right to Vote for All Americans." The hearing was almost canceled as Senator Kennedy was scheduled to co-chair the hearing. Senator Leahy out of respect was questioning whether or not to postpone the hearing, but decided to proceed. Jonah Goldman, Director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections, Pam Karlan, Professor of Public Interest Law at Stanford in addition to three other witnesses were on hand.

Senator Leahy recounted the story of a dozen elderly nuns and their attempt to vote in Indiana just two weeks ago. They were turned away from the polls for not having the appropriate photo ID. Indiana's restrictive photo ID law for eligibility of voting has come under scrutiny since this incident.

Senator Russ Feingold was on hand and his testimony stated, "But we can't simply be disappointed that the Supreme Court now stands on the wrong side of history -- it is incumbent on us to act. Congress' responsibility to protect the right to vote remains intact, and th Supreme Court's recent decision urgently compels us to fulfill that duty."

The witnesses testimonies were to be attributed to the record to support enforcement of the right to vote for all and to address the issue of photo identifications on voting day. In addition, there was an effort to discredit misleading adds that gave false information on when, where and how to vote in certain states.

Elizabeth Edwards, Lance Armstrong on the hill to discuss cancer and work to be done

There was a full committee hearing this morning on "Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century" with witnesses that included Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate and former Senator John Edwards, in addition to Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner and chairman and founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, headed by Senator Kennedy, is dedicated to renewing the "war on cancer." With the Senators praising the witnesses for their work and the witnesses doing likewise towards the Senators, the hearing was very inspirational with first-hand accounts from cancer survivors.

Mrs. Edwards, who is being awarded with the "Mother of the Year Award", was insistent on the fact that health insurance matters. She recounted a story of a young women who had cancer but did not have health insurance while highlighting the difficulties she faced while raising children.

Mr. Armstrong then told his story and was adamant on the fact that early detection was imperative. He was insistent that no matter what age, race or sex, everyone has the right to the proper health care - health care that can prevent, help with early detection, and treat disease.

With testimonies like this, and the confidence and hard work being put forth by these witnesses and others, hopefully the proper funding and work can be done to eradicate this disease.

Senate Committee discussess employment at hearing

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee held a hearing today to discuss “Unemployment in a Volatile Economy: How to Secure Families and Build Opportunity.”

Chairman of the committee Edward Kennedy (D-MA) spoke briefly to say that his committee cares about fellow human beings and is concerned about rising unemployment, the lack of jobs, and what happens to people when they lose jobs. He said that the country's unemployed have been looking for work longer than in any period in recent times.

Ranking member Mike Enzi (R-WY) said that the administration must ensure that workers and students are provided the resources needed in order to live lives without severe financial troubles. He stressed the importance of improving k-12 education where, he said, 7,000 students drop out every day. He talked about a Tennessee high school principal who set up a successful institute to inspire students to pursue higher education and help curb the dropout rate. He said that high schools are only graduating about 70% of their students each year and unless that rate improves, the nation will lose $3 trillion in unearned income. He concluded by saying that a large number of those who graduated high school still have not met the educational requirements to pursue higher education or work and said that there is a need to put a system in place for longterm education, training and retraining.

The New York State commissioner of the Department of Labor Patricia Smith told the committee that her city's rate of longterm unemployment rate is higher than it has been in recent times and that the rate is expected to continue rising. She said that youth unemployment is the highest of all age groups as nd urged Congress to modernize the unemployment system by closing gaps. She complained of the long time period that workers must wait to access their benefits and said that she agree with Pres. Bush's FY2009 budget which calls for reduced funding and services for employment.

Princeton University professor of Economics Alan Krueger cited a rise in the unemployment rate from 4.4% in March 2007 to 4.9% as of January 2008. He said that the average duration of unemployment for an unemployed worker was 12.7 weeks in January 2001. Today, he said, the average duration has climbed to 17.5 weeks. He said that polls conducted reveal that both low and high-income Americans feel that it is currently a bad time to find a job and said that losing a job often has a “scarring effect” on workers, even after they find a new job. Krueger also said that it was “unfortunate” that Bush's new budget calls to eliminate funding for research projects to study the employment and economic situation.