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TELL CONGRESS TODAY [2/29/12]: Repeal Title X Section D of the NDAA

Laura W. Murphy, ACLU

Feb. 29, 2012

Tell Congress: Repeal Title X Section D of the NDAA

Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121; (800) 828-0498

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Senate Judiciary Hearing Wednesday, February 29, 2012 10:00am, EST

The Due Process Guarantee Act: Banning Indefinite Detention of Americans

In December, Congress passed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizing the military to arrest and imprison civilians without charge or trial, based on suspicion alone.

On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the NDAA. This first-ever hearing on the NDAA indefinite detention provisions is an opportunity for US citizens to INSIST that this unconstitutional statute be repealed. Congress needs to hear from you.

Wednesday's hearing will be broadcast live on the Senate Judiciary Committee's website.

http://www.judiciary.senate.gov

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Here is the link to send this (ACLU automated email)message below

https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4139&s_subsrc=homepage

As your constituent, I urge you to pledge to fix the National Defense Authorization Act's indefinite detention without charge or trial provisions. The NDAA is a dangerous law and Congress should pass new legislation to clean up the mess the NDAA has created.

I will be watching the hearing on the NDAA on Wednesday at 10:00 in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The NDAA authorizes this and any future president to order the military to pick up individuals far from any battlefield and imprison them without charge or trial. As a result, the NDAA violates the Constitution, international law, and our nation's commitment to the rule of law. I urge you to make a public pledge on Wednesday that you will commit to fix the NDAA and ensure that:

· No president should be given the power to send our military around the globe, to places where there is no armed conflict, and imprison civilians based on suspicion alone (no matter how much we trust any president, this power is too great).

· The United States itself should be off-limits to military authority to imprison civilians without charge or trial.

· No president should ever be REQUIRED to put civilians into military custody without charge or trial.

There are no bills in Congress yet that meet any part of this pledge. But there are already a lot of members of Congress committed to fixing the NDAA, and I urge you to join together to clean up the mess the NDAA made.

From:Laura W. Murphy, ACLU [mailto:aclu@aclu.org]

Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 9:40 AM

Subject: Still angry about the NDAA?

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.

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.

Thank you for taking a stand,

Laura W. Murphy

Director, Washington Legislative Office

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