Legal Commentary

Senate Adds Block on Guantanamo Transfers To Funding Bill

By Jeralyn

The Senate today added a provision to its omnibus spending bill blocking the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S., including for trial, for 9 months.

Obama could try to find other money to transfer prisoners, but the new law would make that politically untenable.

The ACLU adds:

The House passed a nearly identical provision last week as part of a continuing resolution on government spending. The provision, Section 12 of the bill, is the first across-the-board transfer ban. Previous Guantánamo detainee transfer bans passed by Congress have always included an exception for transfers for prosecution purposes.

[More...]

...Congress should not be creating new obstacles to the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, nor should it needlessly tie the president’s hands when it comes to prosecuting suspected terrorists. Justice is long overdue in these cases, and that can only be achieved through fair and reputable trials in our criminal justice system. Prosecuting these cases in federal court, rather than the unconstitutional military commissions, allows us to pursue real justice in a competent and proven system that can deliver reliable and trustworthy results.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 14, 2010 (boomark / email).