http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hogan
JACOB G. HORNBERGER, LEW ROCKWELL SITE - The presiding judge in the Jose
Padilla case has held that the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a speedy
trial does not protect American citizens from being indefinitely
incarcerated by the Pentagon. Padilla had filed a motion to dismiss the
case on the ground that the federal government had denied him his right
to a speedy trial. Padilla has been in custody since May 2002 and his
trial, which is scheduled to begin in April, is not being held until
some five years later. . .
The presiding judge in the case, Marcia Cooke, denied Padilla's motion
to dismiss. The judge held that when a person, including an American
citizen, is held in custody by the Pentagon as an "enemy combatant," the
time doesn't start running with respect to his right to a speedy trial.
It begins running, she held, only when he becomes part of the federal
criminal-justice system.
Gee, I wonder if the judge's reasoning applies to the rest of the Bill
of Rights as well. Maybe the First Amendment doesn't apply if it's the
Pentagon that is suppressing speech and assembly as part of its
perpetual "war on terror." Or maybe the Second Amendment prohibits only
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), not the
Pentagon, from seizing guns from the American people, as it is doing as
part of the "war on terror" in Iraq.
Our 18th-century American ancestors would have found Judge Cooke's
ruling to be ludicrous. If a military department of government is exempt
from the restrictions of the Bill of Rights, then the entire executive
branch is exempt for the obvious reason: Whenever the government wants
to exempt itself from the Bill of Rights, all it has to do is employ the
military to do the dirty deed. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to
protect the American people from the federal government, not a
particular department of the federal government.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger122.html
Padilla case has held that the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a speedy
trial does not protect American citizens from being indefinitely
incarcerated by the Pentagon. Padilla had filed a motion to dismiss the
case on the ground that the federal government had denied him his right
to a speedy trial. Padilla has been in custody since May 2002 and his
trial, which is scheduled to begin in April, is not being held until
some five years later. . .
The presiding judge in the case, Marcia Cooke, denied Padilla's motion
to dismiss. The judge held that when a person, including an American
citizen, is held in custody by the Pentagon as an "enemy combatant," the
time doesn't start running with respect to his right to a speedy trial.
It begins running, she held, only when he becomes part of the federal
criminal-justice system.
Gee, I wonder if the judge's reasoning applies to the rest of the Bill
of Rights as well. Maybe the First Amendment doesn't apply if it's the
Pentagon that is suppressing speech and assembly as part of its
perpetual "war on terror." Or maybe the Second Amendment prohibits only
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), not the
Pentagon, from seizing guns from the American people, as it is doing as
part of the "war on terror" in Iraq.
Our 18th-century American ancestors would have found Judge Cooke's
ruling to be ludicrous. If a military department of government is exempt
from the restrictions of the Bill of Rights, then the entire executive
branch is exempt for the obvious reason: Whenever the government wants
to exempt itself from the Bill of Rights, all it has to do is employ the
military to do the dirty deed. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to
protect the American people from the federal government, not a
particular department of the federal government.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger122.html
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