PRESS RELEASE

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New York Judge Stays Enforcement
of NDAA Detention Rule

May 18, 2012 (EIRNS)—U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan May 16 ruled in the Hedges v. Obama case in favor of a group of writers and activists temporarily blocking enforcement of the section of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which allows for indefinite military detention of U.S. citizens. Forrest's order prevents enforcement of the provision of the statute pending further order of the court or an amendment to the statute by Congress.

A reading of the Judge's ruling, which reports on the refusal of the government attorneys to provide any definitions of what kind of activity would subject individuals to that detention during the trial, provides shocking evidence of how the Obama Administration is using this vague language to implement police-state measures. The Judge's conclusion reads:

"It must be said that it would have been a rather simple matter for the Government to have stated that as to these plaintiffs and the conduct as to which they would testify, that § 1021 did not and would not apply, if indeed it did or would not. That could have eliminated the standing of these plaintiffs and their claims of irreparable harm. Failure to be able to make such a representation given the prior notice of the activities at issue requires this Court to assume that, in fact, the Government takes the position that a wide swath of expressive and associational conduct is in fact encompassed by § 1021." (pp. 33-34)