"Karsten M. Self" wrote: > > on Thu, Oct 25, 2001 at 02:31:42PM -0400, Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > wrote: > > > >Attorney General John Ashcroft > > >Prepared Remarks for the US Mayors Conference > > >October 25, 2001 > > <...> > > > > Within days of the September 11 attacks, we launched this > > > anti_terrorism offensive to prevent new attacks on our > > > homeland. To date, our anti_terrorism offensive has arrested or > > > detained nearly 1,000 individuals as part of the September 11 > > > terrorism investigation. Those who violated the law remain in > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > custody. Taking suspected terrorists in violation of the law off > ^^^^^^^^ > > > the streets and keeping them locked up is our clear strategy to > > > prevent terrorism within our borders. > > Conviction without trial?
Deliberate vagueness on Asscruft's part, I suspect. As I understand it, most of the Arab-looking men in custody are being held on technical immigration charges. Thanks to changes in the law a couple of years ago, immigrants in violation can be held indefinitely without trial or legal representation, or even deported based on secret evidence. And immigration laws are like traffic laws: it's virtually impossible to go through life without an occasional technical violation. INS's motto: Habeus corpus is for citizens. -- Steve Furlong Computer Condottiere Have GNU, Will Travel 617-670-3793 "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly while bad people will find a way around the laws." -- Plato
