Steve Levin

By Steven Levin

Finally, there is hope that the Obama Administration will get it right.

In overruling the Attorney General’s short-sighted and misguided decision to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) to a civilian court in New York City, the White House will have acknowledged at least two things that those of us with military and federal government experience have long known.

First, the US Armed Forces has a proven history of fairly and effectively conducting military commissions. Second, the federal courts are not the optimal venue for trying alien enemy combatants who are captured while committing acts of war against our country.

By now, many of us are familiar with the long tradition of military commissions, which dates back to the 1780 trial of Major John Andre, who conspired with Benedict Arnold during the Revolutionary War.

Interestingly, the Army’s Judge Advocate General commissioned artist Don Stivers to memorialize this event, then known as a Board of Inquiry or Board of Officers, in his 1998 Limited Edition Print, entitled, “You Sir, Are A Spy.” Both my copy of the print and Major Andre were promptly hanged.

Though he might still be executed today, MAJ Andre would have considerably more protections afforded him by the Military Commissions Act (MCA). Notwithstanding the constant claims by various organizations that the MCA provides few procedural protections, the reality is just the opposite.

The accused has a host of rights, which include the right to counsel, the right to be informed of the charges sufficiently in advance of trial to prepare a defense, the right to be presumed innocent until determined to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the right not to testify at trial unless he so chooses, and the opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution, just to name a few.

There are also several rights relating to sentencing, review, and appeal.

Proponents of federal criminal trials for terrorists, and only federal criminal trials for terrorists, point to the terrorism-related conviction rates for support of their position.

By doing so, they miss the point. The issue is not whether an Assistant U.S. Attorney can win a case in court; the issue is whether the federal government will lose more than it will gain.

That is, will a federal court be required to turn over sensitive information to an alleged terrorist that a military commission might not, even though it may have no bearing on a terrorist’s guilt?

By doing so, will national security be threatened? Those are at least two of the questions that need to be asked, and if the trial is to be in a civilian courtroom, the answer to both had better be “no.”

WASHINGTON — You might not be wrong if you thought the administration is totally confused as to where to prosecute suspected mastermind of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four of his co-defendants.

The Washington Post now reports that President Obama has decided “to insert himself into the debate” after he had asked Atty. General Eric Holder Jr. to pick the site.

The whole thing has turned into a political nightmare.

Previous reports indicated that the administration did a poor job of greasing the skids and building support in New York before announcing it planned to hold the trial there.

The political backlash has made the administration not only rethink the N.Y. location, but also whether to prosecute in civilian or military court,  the suspected terrorist Mohammed, who is often associated with a  photo in which he is having a very very bad hair day.

Holder told the Post he had not ruled out a trial in military court, though he said that is not what he would prefer.

“At the end of the day, wherever this case is tried, in whatever forum, what we have to ensure is that it’s done as transparently as possible and with adherence to all the rules,” Holder said, according to the Post. “If we do that, I’m not sure the location or even the forum is as important as what the world sees in that proceeding.”

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Loretta Lynch/law firm photo

WASHINGTON — With still plenty slots to fill nationwide, President Obama on Wednesday nominated lawyers for U.S. Attorney posts in Louisiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and New York, the website Main Justice reported.

The nominees, according to Main Justice, include Stephanie  Finley for the Western District of Louisiana;  R.  Booth  Goodwin for the Southern District of West Virginia; David Hale for the Western District of Kentucky; Kerry Harvey for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Loretta Lynch for the Eastern District of New York.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON – President Obama is getting some plus points  for going out of his way to congratulate FBI agents in New York and Denver involved in the latest terrorism case linked to suspect Najibullah Zazi.

Early last week, he visted the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in N.Y. to congratulate them on their work.  Two days later, he called the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Denver to do the same.

ABC’s Jake Tapper and Clayton Sandell report that Obama spoke by phone to Jim Davis, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI and about 30 of his agents on the terrorism task force.

Davis, according to ABC News, said the call from the President was a huge morale boost for agents.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I’m not aware of any time the president has ever called the special agent in charge of a field office to communicate his thanks for an investigative effort,” Davis told ABC.

By PATRICK CONDON
Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS – As a little-known Minneapolis police sergeant, Sharon Lubinski made headlines when she declared she was a lesbian on the front pages of the city’s largest newspaper – a bold move that other gay officers say inspired them to come out, too.

More than a decade later, Lubinski could become the first openly gay U.S. marshal after President Barack Obama nominated the 57-year-old assistant police chief to one of the country’s top law enforcement jobs last week.

Though some gay rights activists have criticized the nomination as nothing more than a symbolic gesture from a president they say has lagged behind on key gay issues, others note the move is a step in the right direction toward ending a culture of discrimination.

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By Caitlin Osborne

President Obama continues to be the target of racially motivated hate.

The lastest reminder comes, compliments of Huntsville, Ala. resident Charles Thurman II, 54, who was sentenced last week to four months in jail for reporting false threats to the president.

Turns out, according to his plea agreement, Thurman sent threatening e-mails about the president under the fictitious names  “Wayne Noke” and “Tim Walker” to the White House and FBI earlier this year.

One email said that a process server named  “Jerry Partridge vowed to kill n—- president Barack Obama sometime in 2009. Jerry has numerous guns and will kill the President.”

The email included Partridge’s physical description and phone number.

On Feb. 12, 2009, Secret Service Agent David Stewart interviewed Partridge, who denied having any interest in harming the president, a court document said.

Partridge said that he tried serving Thurman a summon last December, and Thurman pointed a .12 guage shotgun at him, according to a court document. Patridge called 911 and police responded and filled out a report.

Five days later, authorities seized eight computers from Thurman’s home and subsequently did a forensic analysis, which showed that the emails were on the hard drive, the court document said.

President Barack Obama is headed to the Big Apple Tuesday to give a big pat on the back to the FBI for its work on the latest terrorism case involving suspect Najibullah Zazi, who is accused of plotting to kill Americans here at home, Newsday is reporting.

The paper reports that the FBI is still probing three other people suspected of buying chemicals for homemade bombs.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Bloomberg news reports that the Secret Service determined that the juvenile doesn’t pose a threat.

The news service, attributing the information to Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan, said agents interviewed the youth and the parents, but declined to reveal names.

“We’re characterizing it as a mistake,” Donovan told Bloomberg. “We don’t have the luxury of discounting threats. We need to run every single referral out, and that’s what we do.”

The Secret Service said Sunday that it was probing an online survey on Facebook that asked whether President Obama should be assassinated, the Associated Press reports.

The site, which was posted Saturday, was quickly taken down after Facebook officials were notified, AP reported. The Secret Service said it was taking the matter seriously.

John McCain/gov photo

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is probing whether Ronald Demicheli improperly taped a video criticizing 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain in an office at the National Energy Technology Laboratory near Pittsburgh, said Ward Morrow, a lawyer for the American Federation of Government Employees.

Demicheli is president of the union’s Local 1916, which represents employees at the Energy Department lab and nearby research facilities of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

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