by k.hawley
Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2007 at 11:10 PM
Otherwise people like Judge Hogan can in effect replace the democracy with faschist edicts and make the US Constitution null & void and that is much more than lamentable,in fact its totalitarianism
U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan was duplicitious in throwing out a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld! Judgre Hogan,amongst his other grevious mistakes (fabrications) and outright lies said: "Allowing the case to go forward, might subject government officials to all sorts of political lawsuits. Even Osama bin Laden could sue.There is no getting around the fact that authorizing monetary damages remedies against military officials engaged in an active war would invite enemies to use our own federal courts to obstruct the Armed Forces' ability to act decisively and without hesitation." -
What all this B.S. and Bafflegab means is that Judge Hogan has exceedingly overstepped his "purview" and his authority.This judge has no right anywhere in his legal power to postulate or to theorize on how any given lawsuit might impact or even harm the American government or any of its branches or any ordinary citizens.Many lawsuits are brought against the US Govt ,by individual citizens or by NGO's etc., that do have an impact that in some cases changes or restricts how the US Govt.operates.Judfge Hogan dismissed this lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld because he "personally" felt it might negatively impact the US Govt and/or the Pentagon etc..- Again Judge Hogan had no such authority to dismiss a case based on his own "prejudicial" theorizing on what negative impact and outcome the trial "might" have on the US Govt.
The proper procedure in this lawsuit would have been to let the litigitants go to court and then if they won their case,based on the evidence against Donald Rumsfeld,then it would be up to Rumsfeld and the US Govt. to "appeal" the verdict! Its as hard and simple as that.Otherwise people like Judge Hogan can in effect replace the democracy with faschist edicts and make the US Constitution null & void and that is much more than lamentable,in fact its totalitarianism
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WASHINGTON - Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld cannot be tried on allegations of torture in overseas military prisons, a federal judge said Tuesday in a case he described as "lamentable."
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U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan threw out a lawsuit brought on behalf of nine former prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said Rumsfeld cannot be held personally responsible for actions taken in connection with his government job.
The lawsuit contends the prisoners were beaten, suspended upside down from the ceiling by chains, urinated on, shocked, sexually humiliated, burned, locked inside boxes and subjected to mock executions.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First had argued that Rumsfeld and top military officials disregarded warnings about the abuse and authorized the use of illegal interrogation tactics that violated the constitutional and human rights of prisoners.
Hogan appeared conflicted during arguments last year. On one hand, he said he was hesitant to allow allegations of torture to go unheard. On the other hand, he said the case was unprecedented.
"This is a lamentable case," Hogan began his 58-page opinion Tuesday.
No matter how appealing it might seem to use the courts to correct allegations of severe abuses of power, Hogan wrote, government officials are immune from such lawsuits. Additionally, foreigners held overseas are not normally afforded U.S. constitutional rights.
"Despite the horrifying torture allegations," Hogan said, he could find no case law supporting the lawsuit, which he previously had described as unprecedented.
Allowing the case to go forward, Hogan said in December, might subject government officials to all sorts of political lawsuits. Even Osama bin Laden could sue, Hogan said, claiming two American presidents threatened to have him murdered.
"There is no getting around the fact that authorizing monetary damages remedies against military officials engaged in an active war would invite enemies to use our own federal courts to obstruct the Armed Forces' ability to act decisively and without hesitation," Hogan wrote Tuesday.
Had the Rumsfeld lawsuit been allowed to go forward, attorneys for the ACLU might have been able to force the Pentagon to disclose what officials knew about abuses such as those at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and what was done to stop it.
"The court ruled that innocent civilians tortured by the United States cannot seek recourse in the federal courts to hold responsible U.S. officials legally liable," said ACLU attorney Lucas Guttentag. "We believe that the law and Constitution require more, and that the former secretary of defense must be held accountable for his policies that led to this abuse."
The Justice Department had no immediate comment.
Hogan also dismissed the charges against other officials named in the lawsuit: retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, former Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski and Col. Thomas M. Pappas.
Karpinski, whose Army Reserve unit was in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison, was demoted and is the highest-ranking officer punished in the scandal. Sanchez, who commanded U.S. forces in Iraq, retired from the Army and said his career was a casualty of the prison scandal.
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Original: Judge "Flim-Flamed" Rumsfeld accusers!