Was anyone aware of this injunction (news broke mid-May) or did I miss a post since we discussed this in March (http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/03/01/where-is-america-headed/)?
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/05/16/46550.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act_for_Fiscal_Year_2012
Here is a PDF with the decision of the Court: http://sdnyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/12-Civ.-00331-2012.05.16-Opinion-Granting-PI.pdf
I’ve been following Chris Hedges on this. It’s fantastic news. I’ve said more than once, as long as he’s still a free man, none of us have anything to worry about. What kind of government would appeal this injunction?
Not a “government” of one president or another, but the shards of contempt for democracy and dictatorial refuse extant in the bureaucracy of the ever expanding bueraucracy (ipso facto I know) that seems to want to control everything.
This seems to have been relatively quiet in the news in May or I just wasn’t following the news closely enough.
@jefferson, I watch more mainstream media than I care to admit, and didn’t hear about it either. It’s only because I sort of follow Truthdig on Facebook that I read about it.
This is (good) news to me, I hadn’t heard this.
What’s good is there are still judges in the US who comprehend the US consitution and universal human rights and have the guts to do something like this.
What’s scary is that this insane and totalitarian legislation passed both houses of Congress almost unanimously, with support from both political parties, and was signed by Obama even though he’d said he’d veto it. It is scary that the US political situation has deteriorated so badly that few politicians have the courage to oppose things like this, and that the only recourse (often very expensive) is through the courts.
All the warnings that de Toqueville expressed regarding the US political system about 170 years ago in Democracy in America are coming true, alas.
All the more reason for Canada to remain independent and separate from the US and to go its own way. As Isaac Brock well understood two centuries ago.
@just me, your comment reminds me of something I hear on the news today!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2174668/Canadians-richer-Americans-time-history.html
Oh Oh, Bubblebustin’ Congress and IRS are NOT going to like the fact the average net worth of a Canadian household is now higher than that of the average net worth of an American household.
What kind of ideas will this give them? If they have their way, probably Seize The Difference. It Is Ours.
@Blaze, I can read the headline “Oh, Canada!….” in the US media’s usual patronizing tone.
@schubert, that comment was in response to yours, sorry.
I would like to nominate Hon. Katherine B. Forrest for the IBS Hall of Fame for her courageous decision. There is also a site hosting a thank-you petition for her: http://www.causes.com/causes/645193-recall-every-congressman-who-voted-for-the-ndaa/actions/1653019
Thank you Judge, for standing up for the Constitution!!!
Chris Hedges seeks a permanent injunction to the NDAA in court August 8:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/08/ndaa_suit_argue.php
“A Department of Homeland Security bulletin was issued Friday claiming that the riots [in the Middle East] are likely to come to the U.S. and saying that DHS is looking for the Islamic leaders of these likely riots,” Afran said. “It is my view that this is why the government wants to reopen the NDAA—so it has a tool to round up would-be Islamic protesters before they can launch any protest, violent or otherwise.”
Hedges: “The government has now lost four times in a litigation that has gone on almost nine months. It lost the preliminary injunction in May. It lost a motion for reconsideration shortly thereafter. It lost the permanent injunction. It lost its request last week for a stay. We won’t stop fighting this, but it is deeply disturbing that the Obama administration, rather than protecting our civil liberties and democracy, insists on further eroding them by expanding the power of the military to seize U.S. citizens and control our streets.”
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/we_won_–_for_now_20120917/