Due Process

Legislator Wishes To Suspend Civil Liberties To Show He’s “Tough On Crime”

Thu, 12/31/2009 - 12:15pm | posted by Brett Bittner

This week, I caught a story on the Atlanta news that immediately drew my attention. A state Representative, MY state Representative, will introduce a bill during the next legislative session that requires every suspect arrested of a felony to submit to a DNA sample. Without careful examination, along with a very friendly news report about the bill, this does not strike many everyday citizens as a “bad thing,” as seen in the first comment made about the story.

Gitmo Prosecutor Quits Due to Lack of Fairness in System

Mon, 10/13/2008 - 6:38am | posted by Austin Wilkes

The Los Angeles Times ran a stunning piece in this Sunday’s paper detailing the resignation of Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld, the man who was prosecuting nearly 1/3rd of the pending trials for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. Vandeveld, a self described conformist, became disenchanted with “the system” set up in Cuba over issues relating to fairness and lack of due process for the very prisoners he was suppose to prosecute. He lays out accusations of intentional withholding of exculpatory evidence from defense attorneys by military officials, and even goes so far as to say he reached out to a defense attorney to ask “how do I get myself out of this office?”.

Obama backs DNA database

Tue, 03/16/2010 - 3:04pm | posted by Jason Pye

A few months ago, Brett Bittner wrote about a proposal in the Georgia General Assembly that would allow law enforcement to collect the DNA of an individual arrested of a felony. This is obviously troubling as essentially suspends civil liberties for someone that has not yet had their day in court, nor been convicted by a jury of his peers.

It seems that President Barack Obama supports a federal DNA sampling database for individuals suspected of certain crimes, similar to laws already on the books in several states:

[Politico’s Josh] Gerstein posts a televised interview of Obama and John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks” who commit crime.

When it comes to civil liberties, the Obama administration has come under fire for often mirroring his predecessor’s practices surrounding state secrets, the Patriot Act and domestic spying. There’s also Gitmo, Jay Bybee and John Yoo.

Traffic Light Cameras and Due Process

Sun, 11/30/2008 - 6:33am | posted by Dr. Charles Kennedy

This past Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), while visiting my parents in Jonesborough, Tennesse, I came across a letter to the editor in the Johnson City Press concerning the issue of traffic light cameras. It happens that the Johnson City Commission is considering a proposal to install traffic light cameras at various key intersections, primarily to catch violators of traffic signals. See the following articles: Traffic Camera Plan Again Delayed and JC Again Defers Vote on Red Light Cameras.

House of Lords Stands Up For Liberty

Tue, 10/14/2008 - 4:28pm | posted by United Liberty Staff

MSNBC is reporting that the United Kingdom’s House of Lords rejected, in what opposition leaders called a “crushing defeat”, a government plan to increase the amount of time that the state can hold suspects without charges from 28 to 42 days.The pre-9/11 maximum length to which the government could hold suspects without charge was 2 days. This most recent proposal going down in a 3-to-1 defeat hopefully will send a warning message to Gordon Brown and others that they will not be allowed to reign unchecked.