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Washington\u2019s Blog<\/b><\/a> The Department of Justice told a federal court this week that the NSA\u2019s spying\u00a0\u201ccannot be challenged in a court of law\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n (This is especially dramatic given that numerous federal judges and legal scholars \u2014 including a former FISA judge \u2014 say that the FISA spying \u201ccourt\u201d\u00a0is nothing but a kangaroo court<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Also this week, the Department of Justice told a federal court that\u00a0the courts cannot review the legality of the government\u2019s assassination by drone of Americans<\/a>\u00a0abroad:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Are you saying that a US citizen targeted by the United States in a foreign country has no constitutional rights?\u2019 [the judge] asked Brian Hauck, a deputy assistant attorney general. \u2018How broadly are you asserting the right of the United States to target an American citizen? Where is the limit to this?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cShe provided her own answer: \u2018The limit is the courthouse door\u2019 . . . .<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Mr. Hauck acknowledged that Americans targeted overseas do have rights, but he said they\u00a0could not be enforced in court<\/strong>\u00a0either before or after the Americans were killed<\/strong>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n (Indeed, the Obama administration has previously claimed the power to be\u00a0judge, jury and executioner<\/a>\u00a0in both drone and cyber-attacks. This violates Anglo-Saxon laws which have been on the books in England and America for\u00a0800 years<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The Executive Branch also presents \u201csecret evidence\u201d in many court cases \u2026 sometimes even\u00a0hiding the evidence from the\u00a0judge<\/em><\/a>\u00a0who is deciding the case.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bush destroyed much of the separation of powers which made our country great. But under Obama, it\u2019s gotten worse.<\/p>\n For example, the agency which decides who should be killed by drone is the\u00a0same agency<\/em>\u00a0which spies on all Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Daniel Ellsberg notes that\u00a0even the Founding Fathers didn\u2019t have to deal with a government claiming that it could indefinitely detain Americans<\/a>\u00a0\u2026\u00a0even on American soil<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, journalist Naomi Wolf, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and others sued the government to enjoin the NDAA\u2019s allowance of the indefinite detention of Americans \u2014 the judge asked the government attorneys\u00a05 times<\/em>\u00a0whether journalists like Hedges could be indefinitely detained simply for interviewing and then\u00a0writing about<\/em>\u00a0bad guys. The government\u00a0refused<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to promise<\/em><\/a>\u00a0that journalists like Hedges won\u2019t be thrown in a dungeon for the rest of their lives without any right to talk to a judge<\/p>\n The Department of Justice has also\u00a0tapped Congressional phones<\/a>, and a high-level NSA whistleblower says that\u00a0the NSA is spying on \u2014 and\u00a0blackmailing<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 top government officials and military officers<\/a>including\u00a0all 9 Supreme Court justices<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the Executive Branch which has attacked the courts. For example, Congress passed a billstripping courts of the power to review<\/a>\u00a0issues related to genetically modified foods.<\/p>\n The Constitution is\u00a0mortally mounded<\/a>. While the \u201cwar on terror\u201d is commonly cited as the excuse, most of the attacks on our rights started\u00a0before 9\/11<\/a>. Indeed, the Founding Fathers warned 200 years ago that open-ended wars\u00a0give the Executive an excuse to take away our liberties<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two former\u00a0U.S. Supreme Court Justices<\/a>\u00a0have warned that America is sliding into tyranny.\u00a0 A formerU.S. President<\/a>, and\u00a0many other<\/a>\u00a0high-level\u00a0American officials<\/a>\u00a0agree.<\/p>\n In addition to attacks on the judiciary by the White House and Congress, judges are\u00a0voluntarily<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0gutting the justice system \u2026 and laying down in lapdog-obeisance to D.C.<\/p>\n For example, the Supreme Court ruled that if judges don\u2019t like plaintiffs\u2019 allegations of bad government actions, the judge can simply pre-judge and throw out the lawsuit\u00a0before even allowing the party to conduct any discovery to prove their claims<\/a>.\u00a0 This guts 220 years of Constitutional law, and makes it extremely difficult to challenge harmful government action in court.<\/p>\n America has a \u201cdual justice system \u2026 one for ordinary people and then one for people with money and enormous wealth and power<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Indeed, most Americans have\u00a0less access to justice than Botswanans\u00a0<\/a>\u2026 and are\u00a0more abused by police than Kazakhstanis<\/a>.<\/p>\n <!– <\/p>\n –><\/p>\n This article was posted: Monday, July 22, 2013 at 5:43 am<\/p>\n Tags: domestic news<\/a>, government corruption<\/a><\/p>\n
July 22, 2013<\/p>\n\n
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