The Defense Department has until Oct. 4 to explain why 60 detainees held at Gitmo for nearly three years without being charged should not be released, a federal judge ordered yesterday.
A Saudi national held for nearly three years at Guantanamo Bay as an "enemy combatant," but who was never charged with a crime, will be flown home by this weekend. The Justice Department refused to discuss the case of Yaser Esam Hamdi except to say he was being released because "he no longer poses a threat," according to The Washington Post.
They were forced to let him go after the courts handed down a judgment that prisoners couldn't be held without charge or trial - that they have a right to challenge their incarceration - is what actually happened. Apparently there are 60 more lined up and ready.
Espionage charges against Syrian-born U.S. airman Ahmad Halabi were dropped yesterday in exchange for his guilty plea on four lesser charges, The Washington Post reports. The is the third time in recent months the government has withdrawn "security-related" charges against a serviceman stationed at Guantanamo Bay, according to the Post.
And here's a good one...There might not actually be a law that says you have to show identification to board an airplane, but it's a matter of national security, so we can't tell you.
The Justice Department won't acknowledge whether federal rules demanding airline passengers show identification before flying even exist, according to court documents filed with a federal appeals court Monday. The Bush administration told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that air-travel security initiatives are a matter of national security and therefore should not be available for public inspection. The Justice Department documents were lodged in response to a lawsuit brought by Oakland, Calif., resident John Gilmore, who sued the government and airlines. Gilmore, a Libertarian who made millions as a founding employee of Sun Microsystems, wants to see the law that he says violates his rights to assemble freely. The government had requested that it file its case under seal, but on Sept. 10 the court ordered it open for public inspection.
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