Geodog

A good example of why we need judicial review when people are imprisoned

As this NYT article makes clear, the case against imprisoned Army Capitan and Muslim Chaplain Yee gets thinner by the day, and provides abundant evidence for why nobody should have the unchallengeable power to imprison people on their word alone. Capitan Yee was held in solitary confinement and threatened with the death penalty, and we were told he was guilty of espionage and stealing classified documents. Then the government said he was guilty of adultery and pornography, now it turns out that the documents he had that made the customs inspector suspicious may not have been classified after all.

This is the same government that claims the power to declare American citizen enemy combatants and imprison them for life. What do you think that Captain Yee's status would be today if he didn't have access to lawyers and judicial review of his case? I bet he'd be sitting alone in a dark cell, perhaps being beaten like some of the 911 detainees, and threatened with death unless he "confessed."

Access to attorneys and meaningful judicial review for anyone imprisoned by the government is the only course that is consistent with the best of American values. Plus it's the law and the Constitution.