Judge strikes down Bush on terror groups By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
1 hour, 7 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - A federal judge struck down President Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutionally vague, according to a ruling released Tuesday.
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The Humanitarian Law Project had challenged Bush's order, which blocked all the assets of groups or individuals he named as "specially designated global terrorists" after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"This law gave the president unfettered authority to create blacklists," said David Cole, a lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Constitutional Rights that represented the group. "It was reminiscent of the McCarthy era."
The case centered on two groups, the Liberation Tigers, which seeks a separate homeland for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan, a political organization representing the interests of Kurds in Turkey.
U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins enjoined the government from blocking the assets of the two groups. The same judge two years ago invalidated portions of the Patriot Act.
Both groups consider the Nov. 21 ruling a victory; both had been designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations.
Cole said the judge's ruling does not invalidate the hundreds of other designated terrorist groups on the list but "calls them into question."
Charles Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said, "We are currently reviewing the decision and we have made no determination what the government's next step will be."
A White House spokeswoman declined to immediately comment. At the time of his order creating the list, Bush declared that the "grave acts of terrorism" and the "continuing and immediate threat of future attacks" constituted a national emergency.
The judge's 45-page ruling was a reversal of her own tentative findings last July in which she indicated she would uphold wide powers asserted by Bush under an anti-terror financing law. She delayed her ruling then to allow more legal briefs to be filed.
She also struck down the provision in which Bush had authorized the secretary of the treasury to designate anyone who "assists, sponsors or provides services to" or is "otherwise associated with" a designated group.
However, she let stand sections of the order that penalize those who provide "services" to designated terrorist groups. She said such services would include the humanitarian aid and rights training proposed by the plaintiffs.
The Humanitarian Law Project planned to appeal that part of the ruling, Cole said.
"We are pleased the court rejected many of the constitutional arguments raised by the plaintiffs, including their challenge to the government's ban on providing services to terrorist organizations," Miller said Tuesday. "However, we believe the court erred in finding that certain other aspects of the executive order were unconstitutional."
The ruling was still considered a victory, Cole said.
"Even in fighting terrorism the president cannot be given a blank check to blacklist anyone he considers a bad guy or a bad group and you can't imply guilt by association," Cole said.
In 2004, Collins ruled that portions of the Patriot Act were too vague and, even after Congress amended the act in 2005, she ruled the provisions remained too vague to be understood by a person of average intelligence and were therefore unconstitutional.
I got to daydreaming about citizen arrests and it doesn't look like I'm going to sleep at all tonight. I thought we might all enjoy a few visions of the world going right and sanity in charge for a change.
In the process I remembered the arguments against the death penalty which many believe is simply revenge. I don't think so. I think the death penalty is necessary to cleanse our land and restore our innocence. Abortionists, for instance, should pay with their blood.
On that video the narrater said that if you own the media, the judiciary and law enforcement you can do what you want and get away with it. This is true, and thus the bad judges and police and sheriffs would be the first ones arrested, tossed in the pokey and brought before a judge, where they would defend their lives like any other John Doe.
Those in the White House and Pentagon who are running this country to the ground would be charged with treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity among others. The really busy congresspeople like Ted Kennedy, Diane Feinstien, Hilary Clinton, etc, would also be arrested for their unAmerican activities. And all congresspeople would be visited by delegations letting them know what the people expect of them (no more sneaky bills, no more rape of the constitution and the bill of rights, no more UN or any such treaties, no more favored status for China, etc) but solid American laws in American interests.
The Jєωs, esp the lubavechers and other militant groups, would be jailed. The FED would be abolished and jailed and all its nefarious activities, including income tax wiped off the board. The foreign purchases of American land would be nulled. The NGO's would be jailed, and the people be given back their property. The Supreme Court would have to be entirely replaced.
But best of all, that slime in the Whitehouse and Pentagon would be cleaned out and stand accused of treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity and publicly executed.
The peddlars of immoratility from Hollywood to gαy Right to the Hemlock Society could be jailed and forfeit their causes and lifestyles. Those who had a hand in Terri's execution would be executed. The Evangelicals could be extradited as traitors. We could even put away some of these bishops for impersonating Catholics. And finally we could call the pharmaceutical companies, FDA and HMO's on the carpet
It wouldn't even be hard. Just a few people who recognize that they are the gov't , a few honest judges to issue warrents, and the right people would be behind bars. And then God would see from Heaven. He would see that we are serious about turning away from our sins.
We can wait here for these devils to repent of all the things they are committed to until they have destroyed us and everything. Or we can put our money where our mouth is the way Jesus did when He cleansed the temple. We can cleanse our land. In all of history every country the Jєωs got their talons into suffered until they were done away with. I guarantee you it will be the same for us.