Action pnum501 Last 25 Messages Transmitted Log Detainees Must Be Prosecuted Under Current Law ********** [065428:091806] S.H., Hobe Sound, FL BUSH ( and CO) IS TURNING OUR BELOVED DEMOCRACY TOWARDS DICTATORSHIP! STOP THIS NOW! ********** [065235:091806] L.C., Brooklyn, NY what has happened to our nation under the misguidance of this administration? ********** [064505:091806] R.S., Greeneville, TN As a candidate for Congress myself, I feel that Mr. Bush and Mr. Chaney have to be impeached and punished for their crimes. Beyond that we need to make sure no such crimes are commited in our names again. ********** [061203:100806] C.B., Venice, FL Those currently leading our country are dismissing the ideals that generations of Americans have given their lives to protect. Most important is the fact that this administration is trampling on the Bill of Rights, which is the foundation of our country. Guantanamo Prison is in violation of four (4) of the ten (10) amendments of the Bill of Rights. Amendment 5: No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment of indictment of a Grand Jury. Amendment 6: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed. Amendment 7: In suits at common law the right of trial by jury shall be preserved. Amendment 8: Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Then of course you have the basis of the American Law that all persons have a right to face their accuser in a trial. If we, the American people, allow the very fabric of our Nation to be destroyed by not protesting the abuses then this Country is lost. If we allow our civil liberties to be taken away in the name of fear, hate and greed then this Country is lost. Only a terrorist condones and defends terrorist tactics used by his own people and then we become what we abhor most terrorist. ********** [120113:092906] P.M., Cannon Beach, OR I don't give a hoot about that horrifying law just passed by both Houses of Congress, the rights of habeus corpus and a fair trial cannot be legislated out of existence, they are fundamental human rights. Let's get this new bill reversed ASAP. ********** [102157:092806] N.R., Incline Village, NV Prosecute detainees under existing law. Stop torture and illegal rendition. Follow the Geneva Conventions. No phony re-write by those who have committed law violations. ********** [214651:092706] J.R., Bellingham, WA With out law, we are but animals. To disregard the law we have is a more grievous atrocity then those committed by any terrorists ********** [113658:092606] D.L., Veneta, OR Keep the faith. President Bush has acted illegally, don't pardon him and give him more "power!" ********** [065915:092506] S.G., Nevada City, CA It is already evident that George W. Bush is a criminal (Remember he insider traded his Harken Energy stock and didn't report it for eight months. The "co-president, Mr. "Go F**K yourself" also has demonstrated his criminality in his orders to "out" Valerie Plame, plus his war profiteering off of Iraq. The only reason that they want to create convictions on secret evidence and removal of the right to challenge the federal government for the treatment of prisoners (now called enemy combatants) whereever they send our miltary. The Bush Adminstration has continually demonstrated their criminality and now they want the Congress to okey dokey all his actions. Words cannot express my outrage. By the way, we could all be deemed "enemy combatants" in these criminals' minds and then tortured. I've never heard of any valid description of who or what makes an "enemy combatant". ********** [220444:092406] M.M., Laguna Niguel, CA The detainees must be prosecuted under current law. Otherwise, it proves we have no moral standing in the world left at all. ********** [175926:092406] D.E., Solon, IA The fact that the detainees HAVE been tortured is precisely the reason why the Bush administration is so determined to deny them any rights they have under current law to see the evidence against them, or to have any other protections thereunder. Secret evidence means keeping also secret their own war crimes. Either we are a nation of laws or we are not. And to butcher the law "ex post facto" (after the fact) anytime the result will not be as we would like is to render our entire legal system of no force and effect. It is to tell the world that we have laws of convenience only, and that they are subject to change without notice. There are disreputable precedents in world history, the Star Chamber, kangaroo courts and show trials. The Supreme Court, even stacked as it is already is with Bush beholden appointees, has ruled that the military tribunals proposed are contrary to the Constitution itself, let alone statutory law. The solution is not to enact further Constitutional outrages in the Congress, perhaps in hopes of stacking a reversing fifth additional vote by the time it arrives back at the Supreme Court. The detainees must be prosecuted under existing law. To do otherwise is to send the loudest message possible to the entire world that we believe THEY HAVE COMMITTED NO CRIME FOR WHICH THEY CAN BE PROSECUTED. Some who were irrefutably innocent have already been released after years of torture, and with no apology or compensation for their ordeal. If the truly guilty cannot be found so under current law, we have no moral standing in the world left at all. Detainees Must Be Prosecuted Under Current Law. ********** [063503:092406] L.E., Portland, OR We can't make up laws as we go and expect to be seen as the champion of human rights. ********** [225951:092306] G.H., Sacramento, CA The detainees must be prosecuted under existing law. To do otherwise is to send the loudest message possible to the entire world that we believe THEY HAVE COMMITTED NO CRIME FOR WHICH THEY CAN BE PROSECUTED. Some who were irrefutably innocent have already been released after years of torture, and with no apology or compensation for their ordeal. If the truly guilty cannot be found so under current law, we have no moral standing in the world left at all. ********** [092047:092306] M.B., Gloucester, MA If our current law is not good enough to prosecute crimes committed by the detainees, then the evidence against them must not be good enough, and our government might actually have operated in a way to make these prosecutions impossible, under the law. We need to be an nation of laws, not a totalitarian regime that tortures our ememies. Our own citizens will be next. Stop this outrage now. Thank you. ********** [090651:092306] N.M., Flushing, NY Due process is a fundamental human right. The accused are suspects, not convicts. ********** [075004:092306] H.Q., Schenectady, NY we are a moral and compassionate country. Keep the present law!! ********** [065727:092306] B.C., Plano, TX The Bush Administration has always had something to hide, expose the truths NOW no matter what the lasting effects are ob GWB and his administration. We the People demand it. Bonnie Cross ********** [155555:092206] S.T., Charlotte, NC If we Expect Decent Treatment for Americans we must retain the Moral High Ground. Bush and Cheney do not have a clue what it means to be a Decent American or to act in a Moral or Ethical manner. I doubt they even know what the words mean. I am already ashamed to be a Republican. Don't make me ashamed to be an American! ********** [152744:092206] K.C., Elgin, TX We have a legal system that has served us well for over 200 years. The Bush administration is trying to push thru a "special" system of procecution for detainees, so that it can get convictions on "secret" evidence, and hide there own crimes committed, supposedly to obtain the claimed evidence. The supreme counrt has already ruled that what the Bush regime wants is unconstitutional. Your #1 job is to defend the constitution of this nation, regardless of your party affiliation. This is an outrage, and another mistake that will shows the world that the US no longer has any Moral standing in the international community. If the Bush regime has nothing to hide, then try these criminals in open court, and prove it. The innocent don't hide from the light of day. ********** [152615:092206] A.G., Eugene, OR If we say we stand for "freedom" and we say we are a democracy, then all need to be treated by the same unoppressive laws and with the same rights. The Geneva Convention was signed for good reasons, every bit as valid today as when it was signed. We the People can stand for no turning of our signatures into a lie... ********** [143442:092206] R.W., Capitola, CA The evilness of our pantywaist, neocon, rich-kid, moron "President" knows no bounds! Hugo Chavez was more than right. Get this Lucifer out of office and into a cell at Abu Ghraib, where he could be tortured around the clock. I'd love to hear a tape of him whimpering for mercy! ********** [125613:092206] t.r., Glendale, AZ do you think people of the free nation will agree with this when it starts to affect them personally. what will history say about you and the actions you have taken. when do you think the other "wars" will be taken under this light. why not do the same for the "war" on drugs, or the "war" on drunk driving, or the "war" on crime. when the military is turned on our own citizens, will we have crossed the "line" at that point. can you really justify the lack of proceedings, that we all uphold as a higher moral, just because there are individules that are plotting to harm us. if that is so, then why not throw out all civil libeties for the safety of our nation. are you ready to report to the goverment all your personal thoughts, ideas, and plans. i doubt it. we are on the track that leads us there. are you willing, to derail this train, to stop it? i hope so, because the people gave you special powers in the goverment to do such a thing. it is your sworn duty to do so, given, that you feel as such. ********** [105731:092206] C.S., Escondido, CA We've made quite a mockery of our political institution and created was only can be discribed as a banana republic. The detainees have been subjected to enough injustice by being illegally held without being charged in the first. Aren't these poor souls entitled to prosecution under current law? ********** [064414:092206] M.M., Brooklyn, NY He can't give a good much less a rousing speech. He all bravado, no real bravery. There seem to be reasons behind the reasons for this nonsense that would shock ordinary and leading citizens alike. I don't trust this president, or his coterie, and his policies may well have put the U.S. on the slippery slope to decline. When we lose our moral standing and our strategies fail in both conception and execution, what remains? ********** [064149:092206] D.O., Marion, OH We are a nation of laws and the law must be followed by every man, including the president. We have a system of rules for trials to be conducted and these rules must be followed for every man, citizen or not. We simply cannot allow evidence to be used that remains secret to a defendant. The accused has the right to see the evidence against him and afforded the opportunity refute it with witnesses and counter evidence. America cannot establish a kangaroo court system to try prisoners. Many of the prisoners held in custody were sold to American forces by warlords seeking to consolidate power, make money and rid themselves of opponents. I believe many of the prisoners held in Guantanamo Prison are just that, innocent at least until proven guilty with the laws we have. These laws have served this country well for over over two hundred years. They must not be changed in an attempt legitimize laws already broken by the Bush administration. If these people broke the law or fought against us they should be tried. Likewise if people in our government broke the law they too must be tried no matter how high up the ladder of power. Either we are a nation of laws or we are not. Which is it? **********