From: "ARON KAY" <pieman-AT-pieman.org>
Subject: Fw: [ActionGreens] ASHCROFT TO FACE SENATE GRILLING ON TRIBUNALS(Reuters)
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 18:33:56 -0500



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----- Original Message -----
From: "Cathryn Swan" <cathrynbe-AT-earthlink.net>
To: "cathryn swan" <cathrynbe-AT-earthlink.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2001 6:49 AM
Subject: [ActionGreens] ASHCROFT TO FACE SENATE GRILLING ON
TRIBUNALS(Reuters)


>
> November 25, 2001
>
> THE LAW
>
> Ashcroft to Face Tough Senate Grilling on Tribunals
>
> By REUTERS
>
> The Law: Bush's New Rules to Fight Terror Transform the Legal Landscape
> (November 25, 2001)
>
> Filed at 2:55 p.m. ET
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General John Ashcroft will face a tough
> grilling from lawmakers in coming weeks over President Bush's proposal to
> create secret military tribunals and employ other ``ad hoc, outside the
> justice system methods'' to fighting terrorism, the Senate Judiciary
> Committee chairman said on Sunday.
> Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said lawmakers in both
> parties were upset with Ashcroft, who won sweeping new powers to fight
> terrorism in post-Sept. 11 legislation and has since announced other
> controversial measures such as monitoring conversations between suspects
and
> defense attorneys and interviewing thousands of young men from the Middle
> East.
> Leahy, who negotiated the anti-terror legislation with Ashcroft last
month,
> noted on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' that the attorney general had held out
the
> likelihood of immediate arrests of terror suspects once those new
> prosecutorial powers were granted.
> The wave of arrests did not materialize, and Ashcroft has instead
announced
> new measures including a proposal for secret military tribunals that would
> not follow the usual rules and standards of the U.S. criminal justice
> system, Leahy said.
> ``We pick up the paper every morning and here's, 'We're going to wiretap
> defense counsel, we're going to do these ad-hoc,
outside-the-justice-system
> methods,''' Leahy said, referring to the administration's tactics.
> Asked if he was upset with Ashcroft, Leahy emphatically answered, ``Yes,
> very much so.'' Leahy plans a preliminary hearing this week and expects
> Ashcroft to testify the following week, an appearance that he said would
not
> be ``perfunctory.''
> President Bush has said he wants the option of instituting military
> tribunals for accused terrorists, in which military officers would act as
> judge and jury.
> Trials could be secret, with procedures and composition of the courts to
be
> determined by the U.S. defense secretary and military commanders. The
usual
> rules of evidence and right to defense counsel would not necessarily
apply,
> Leahy noted.
> Bush said he wanted to have that option if any al Qaeda members linked to
> the Sept. 11 suicide aircraft attacks on the World Trade Center and
Pentagon
> are apprehended.
> However, critics on both the left and right have said these tribunals
would
> abrogate civil liberties and undercut the fundamentals of the U.S.
criminal
> justice system.
> Leahy noted he was not disposed to be soft on terrorism, particularly
since
> he personally was the target of an anthrax letter that investigators
believe
> may have contained enough of the potent bacteria to kill up to 100,000
> people.
> But he said he was not convinced that military tribunals were the only or
> the best way to achieve justice.
> ``We all agree that there should be justice here,'' Leahy said. ``But
let's
> be a little bit careful how we do it.''
> Also appearing on the show, Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, said
he
> was not as critical as Leahy of Ashcroft, but that he too had concerns,
> particularly about any wiretapping of attorney-client conversations.
>
>
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