Still angry about the NDAA?
Laura W. Murphy, ACLU
Are you still angry about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)? Good. You should be.
As you may recall, in December, Congress passed a statute authorizing this president and all future presidents to use the military to indefinitely detain people located far from any battlefield — without charge or trial — based on suspicion alone.
Tens of thousands of ACLU supporters took action against this outrageous statute and pledged to fight it once it became law. And we have a chance to start to do so on Wednesday when the Senate Judiciary Committee holds its first public hearing on the problems caused by the NDAA.
Write your members of Congress urging them to take a public pledge to fight back against indefinite military detention without charge or trial. (Do not forward: This link will open a page with your information already filled in.)
When the Senate Armed Services Committee wrote the NDAA last year in secret, closed-door sessions, it included dangerous provisions that gave the president authority to send the American military anywhere in the world to imprison people, even in countries where there is no armed conflict and no threat to Americans.
Congress even rejected amendments clarifying that the NDAA does not permit indefinite military detention of civilians here in the United States.
But the Senate is taking a step to fix all of this. We have to make the most of it. And right now, that means your senators need to hear from you — they need to know you reject this perversion of justice and you won't stand for worldwide indefinite military detention without charge or trial.
Let's be clear. Congress needs a new bill — one that cuts off indefinite military detention power. Although some well-intentioned bills have been introduced, none of them yet fix the problems.
In order to protect the values of freedom and justice, we have to fix the NDAA. And that means we have to act quickly and decisively to let Congress know we reject indefinite military detention before this crucial hearing on Wednesday.
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Thank you for taking a stand,
Laura W. Murphy Director, Washington Legislative Office |
P.S. We hope you'll watch Wednesday's hearing. It will be broadcast live on the Senate Judiciary Committee's website.