[Ppnews] Scalia Cites False Information in Habeas Dissent

[Political Prisoner News]

June 25, 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/cohn06252008.html

When the Facts Don't Fit, Make Them Up


Scalia Cites False Information in Habeas Dissent

By MARJORIE COHN

To bolster his argument that the Guantánamo 
detainees should be denied the right to prove 
their innocence in federal courts, Justice 
Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissent in Boumediene 
v. Bush: "At least 30 of those prisoners hitherto 
released from Guantánamo have returned to the 
battlefield." It turns out that statement is false.

According to 
<http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/reports/urban_legend_final_61608.pdf>a 
new report by Seton Hall Law Center for Policy 
and Research, "The statistic was endorsed by a 
Senate Minority Report issued June 26, 2007, 
which cites a media outlet, CNN. CNN, in turn, 
named the DoD as its source. The '30' number, 
however, was corrected in a DoD press release 
issued in July 2007, and a DoD document submitted 
to the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 
20, 2008 abandons the claim entirely."

The largest possible number of detainees who 
could have "returned to the fight" is 12; 
however, the Department of Defense has no system 
for tracking the whereabouts of released 
detainees. The only one who has undisputedly 
taken up arms against the United States or its 
allies, "ISN 220," was released by political 
officers of the DoD against the recommendations of military officers.

Scalia bolstered his hysterical claim that the 
Boumediene decision "will almost certainly cause 
more Americans to be killed" with stale 
information that was proven to be false one year 
ago. Professor 
<http://law.shu.edu/administration/public_relations/press_releases/2008/guantanamo_data_reveals_61708.htm>Mark 
Denbeaux, director of the Seton Hall Center, 
said, Scalia "was relying uncritically on 
information that originated with a party in the case before him."

The Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision that 
the Guantánamo detainees were entitled to file 
petitions for writ of habeas corpus to challenge 
their detention. More than 200 men who have been 
held for up to six years and have never been 
charged with a crime, will now have their day in 
court. Many were snatched from their homes, 
picked up off the street or in airports, or sold 
to the U.S. military by warlords for bounty.

Scalia, who sits on the highest court in the 
land, has acted as a loyal foot soldier for the executive branch of government.

Marjorie Cohn is president of the National 
Lawyers Guild and a professor at Thomas Jefferson 
School of Law. She is author of 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0977825337/counterpunchmaga>Cowboy 
Republic. Her articles are archived at 
<http://www.marjoriecohn.com>www.marjoriecohn.com.




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