Vodpod videos no longer available.
***
Justice Department Releases Bush Administration National Security Memos
American Civil Liberties Union
(3/2/2009)
Newly Released Legal Documents Responsive To ACLU Lawsuit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – The Justice Department today released nine secret memos and opinions written by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that authorized some of the Bush administration’s unlawful national security policies, including a memo written by OLC lawyer John Yoo that argued the Fourth Amendment does not apply to military activities inside the United States. Some of the memos are responsive to American Civil Liberties Union lawsuits seeking OLC legal opinions and other government records.
In a recent letter to the Obama administration, the ACLU called on the OLC to release, at the earliest possible date, dozens of still-secret legal memos related to interrogation, detention, rendition, surveillance and other Bush administration policies.
The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project:
“We welcome the Justice Department’s decision to release these memos, some of which provided the basis for the Bush administration’s unlawful national security policies. These memos essentially argue that the president has a blank check to disregard the Constitution during wartime, not only on foreign battlefields, but also inside the United States. We hope today’s release is a first step, because dozens of other OLC memos, including memos that provided the basis for the Bush administration’s torture and warrantless wiretapping policies, are still being withheld. In order to truly turn the page on a lawless era, these memos should be released immediately.”
More information, including a copy of the ACLU’s recent letter to the OLC, a chart of the still-secret OLC memos, a video and information about the ACLU’s FOIA litigation, is available at: www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html
***
Bush Lawyers Approved Constitution-Free Domestic Military Ops, Docs Show
By Ryan Singel
Wired.com
March 02, 2009 | 5:55:25 PM
The Justice Department secretly authorized President George Bush to use the military inside the United States to snoop on, raid and even kill citizens in order to fight terrorism without regard to the Fourth or Fifth Amendment, according to a Oct 23, 2001 memo released by the Obama Administration Monday.
“We do not think a military commander carrying out a raid on a terrorist cell would be required to demonstrate probable cause or to obtain a warrant,” the Office of Legal Counsel memo (.pdf) said. “We think that the better view is that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to domestic military operations designed to deter and prevent future terrorist attacks.”
Department of Justice special counsel Robert Delahunty and John Yoo, a deputy assistant attorney general best known for penning a memo authorizing government agents to torture suspected terrorists, wrote the memo after the administration asked whether it could use the military inside the United States.
[…]
h/t: CLG
***
First & Fourth Amendment Ended Under Bush & Cheney!
March 02, 2009 MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show
Vodpod videos no longer available.
see
Preaching to the Choir? By Timothy V. Gatto + video
Declassified letter exposes Democratic Party complicity in CIA torture By Joe Kay
The Torture Tape Cover-up: How High Does It Go? by Prof. Marjorie Cohn
Did Bush Watch the Torture Tapes?
CIA Torture and other War Crimes By Philip Giraldi
The torture tape fingering Bush as a war criminal By Andrew Sullivan
Dandelion Salad 
Pingback: No one is above the law. : The Sirens Chronicles
Pingback: Hell hath no fury like an imperialist scorned by William Blum « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Countdown: Bush Dictatorship & Truth Commission « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: John Yoo’s Legal Groundwork for Subverting the Republic by Naomi Wolf « Dandelion Salad