December 23, 2005
'Bitch-slapping' U.S. President Bush on National Security Issues
In commenting on Joseph Sullum's December 22, 2005 Reason Online article headlined "No Fury Like a Court Scorned, " University of Chicago Assistant Political Science Professor Daniel W. Drezner said "...just about every branch or bureaucracy of government is bitch-slapping George W. Bush this month on national security issues." It was in response the following from Sullum:Coming from what is generally considered the most government-friendly federal appeals court, yesterday's decision by the 4th Circuit denying the Bush administration's request to transfer accused would-be terrorist Jose Padilla from military to civilian custody is the judicial equivalent of a bitch slap.
It good to see Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig show judicial balls by rejecting Mr. Bush's attempt stay out of the U.S. Supreme Court on the Padilla case. Here's his 14-page opinion.
Luttig was appointed to the Fourth Circuit bench by George Herbert Walker Bush, the current U.S. president's father.
Note: This item is cross posted at The Opinion Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2005
U.S. May Try to Deport Professor Sami al-Arian
The New York Times reported today that Federal "Prosecutors said Wednesday [December 7, 2005] that they may still decide to re-try... former professor Sami Al-Arian on some or all of the nine criminal counts on which a jury in Tampa, Florida, deadlocked over on Tuesday," December 6, 2005.
"But if the government opts not to retry him," The Times reported, "officials said they would probably bring separate immigration charges that could result in his deportation - and which would require the government to meet a lower burden of proof against him."
I think Prosecutor Paul Perez's effort will be rejected if he attempts to deport the professor.
Here's The Times article. Here's a Justice Department press release on Al-Arian's February 20, 2002 arrest.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2005
Arian in Jail Despite Acquittal on Some Charges, Deadlock on Others
Sami Al-Arian, a former South Florida University professor who was acquitted December 6, 2005 on what TampayBays 10.Com calls "a key charge that he helped lead a Palestinian terrorist group that has carried out suicide bombings against Israel," will "go back to jail until prosecutors decide whether to retry him on the deadlocked counts."
Keep in mind that unforeseen circumstances and public opinion could cause prosecutors to change their minds about keeping him in jail.
For more, please see "No convictions for Al-Arian co-defendants."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:15 AM | Comments (0)
Ex-Professor Acquitted of Operating Palestinian Islamic Jihad Cell
Michael Fechter, Elaine Silvestrini and Lenny Savino, in a December 7, 2005 article in The Tampa (Florida, USA) Tribune headlined "No Guilty Verdicts In Al-Arian Trial," summed up the not guilty verdict for Sami Al-Arian on "eight of 17 counts against him, including one pivotal charge that he conspired to maim and murder people overseas," this way:Once billed as a major strike in the war on terrorism, the case against Sami Al-Arian crumbled Tuesday when jurors rejected federal charges that Al-Arian and three co-defendants operated a North American cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The Associated Press characterized it as "a stinging defeat for prosecutors.
Melanie Ave, staff writer for the St. Petersburgh (Florida) Times provides background in an "Al-Arian trial: Q&A." Also see "Sami Al-Arian Trial Coverage."
According to The Tribune, co-defendants Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Zayed Ballut, were acquitted of all charges. A fourth, Hatem Naji Fariz, was found not guilty of 25 counts and jurors deadlocked on eight other charges."
Presumably, Lawyers handling similar cases stemming from the Bush Administration's so-called war on terrorism will closely study this case
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:00 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2005
The European Constitutional Law Review
The TransAtlantic Assembly notes that "the second issue ever of the European Constitutional Law Review, published by Cambridge University Press, has just been published on the web." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
