Judge Orders Justice Department To Declassify Torture Memos
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release memos letting the CIA use waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects, or justify why these should be kept classified.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of a U.S. District Court in New York gave the department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) until Oct. 3 to demonstrate why the memos, first reported by the New York Times last year, should not be released. His ruling was in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to declassify the documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Times report identified two memos penned by the OLC in 2005. One authorized the use of methods such as waterboarding, head slapping and exposure to freezing temperatures during interrogations. The second said the CIA did not violate federal law on prisoner interrogations; it was issued just as Congress was about to pass a bill declaring "inhumane treatment" of prisoners unlawful.
"It is essential that these memos immediately be released to the public so that high level officials can be held accountable for authorizing torture as policy in violation of U.S. and international law," ACLU attorney Amrit Singh said in a news release.
Full Version: A Defeat For The Bushies
And also a victory. 
Appeals Court Stays Judge’s Order on Subpoenas
Current and former senior White House aides will not have to comply with congressional subpoenas while a federal appeals court considers whether their request for a longer stay of a lower court’s order has merit, the court ruled Thursday.
On July 31, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ordered former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten to comply with House Judiciary Committee subpoenas issued as part of the panel’s probe of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006. Bolten and Miers had refused to comply after President Bush asserted executive privilege.
The temporary stay issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, likely eliminates any chance that Miers will appear at a Sept. 11 House Judiciary hearing to testify about the firings. Similarly, Bolten is unlikely to comply with a Sept. 4 committee deadline to furnish more information to the panel.
The committee sued Bolten and Miers after Attorney General Michael. B. Mukasey refused to refer a contempt of Congress citation to a federal grand jury.
Bates ordered Bolten to give the committee non-privileged White House records, and more details about privileged documents. He ordered Miers to comply with her subpoena to appear before the committee and assert Bush’s privilege claim on a question-by-question basis.
On Aug. 26, Bates denied the Justice Department’s request to stay his order. But the appeals court issued a stay to give both sides time to file additional briefs in the case. Bolten and Miers have appealed Bates’ order, and the appeals court is considering whether to issue a longer stay.
Justice Department lawyers representing Bolten and Miers have until Sept. 8 to file their brief. The committee has until Sept. 10, the day before the scheduled hearing.
The appellate court indicated it wants each side to address whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the case, and, if it does, whether the case would become moot at the end of the 110th Congress when the subpoenas expire. The court also wants both sides to propose a briefing schedule for further submissions, if the court decides to grant a stay of Bates’ order pending the defendants’ appeal.
It is unclear whether the committee would go ahead with its Sept. 11 hearing if Miers does not show up. Justice Department lawyers have made it clear there will be no testimony or document production while a stay application is pending.
Appeals Court Stays Judge’s Order on Subpoenas
Current and former senior White House aides will not have to comply with congressional subpoenas while a federal appeals court considers whether their request for a longer stay of a lower court’s order has merit, the court ruled Thursday.
On July 31, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ordered former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten to comply with House Judiciary Committee subpoenas issued as part of the panel’s probe of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006. Bolten and Miers had refused to comply after President Bush asserted executive privilege.
The temporary stay issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, likely eliminates any chance that Miers will appear at a Sept. 11 House Judiciary hearing to testify about the firings. Similarly, Bolten is unlikely to comply with a Sept. 4 committee deadline to furnish more information to the panel.
The committee sued Bolten and Miers after Attorney General Michael. B. Mukasey refused to refer a contempt of Congress citation to a federal grand jury.
Bates ordered Bolten to give the committee non-privileged White House records, and more details about privileged documents. He ordered Miers to comply with her subpoena to appear before the committee and assert Bush’s privilege claim on a question-by-question basis.
On Aug. 26, Bates denied the Justice Department’s request to stay his order. But the appeals court issued a stay to give both sides time to file additional briefs in the case. Bolten and Miers have appealed Bates’ order, and the appeals court is considering whether to issue a longer stay.
Justice Department lawyers representing Bolten and Miers have until Sept. 8 to file their brief. The committee has until Sept. 10, the day before the scheduled hearing.
The appellate court indicated it wants each side to address whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the case, and, if it does, whether the case would become moot at the end of the 110th Congress when the subpoenas expire. The court also wants both sides to propose a briefing schedule for further submissions, if the court decides to grant a stay of Bates’ order pending the defendants’ appeal.
It is unclear whether the committee would go ahead with its Sept. 11 hearing if Miers does not show up. Justice Department lawyers have made it clear there will be no testimony or document production while a stay application is pending.
running the clock out
but there is no statue of limitations on criminal charges
but there is no statue of limitations on criminal charges
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