I’m pretty unhappy with my Senator, Carl Levin
My senator, Senator Levin (D-MI, Phone: 202-224-6221) sponsored the National Defense Authorization Act which, among other things, permits the indefinite detention of anybody suspected by the administration of connections to terrorism without trial.
As it turns out, whoever is answering the phone at Levin’s office is pretty well briefed on the issue and was able to discuss both the bill, an intended to alleviate my concerns about the bill (it didn’t), and Supreme Court rulings about it. Granted, I’m also pretty well versed in this issue. The decision to detain people at Guantanamo Bay without trial and, initially, without access to counsel was what turned me against the Bush Administration. I’ve studied this one pretty thoroughly.
If you end up calling Senator Levin (which would make my day) the reason that language stating “this bill doesn’t change any existing laws” does not alleviate concerns about indefinite detention is that it’s simply untrue. If the language genuinely doesn’t do anything, take it out. It’s an unnecessary waste of paper. What the language actually does is affirm existing policy in a legal grey area and give legal cover to egregious abuses of civil liberties.
