Tonight Maryna and I went to a lecture at TU. The presentation was by Howard Hongju Koh, the Dean of Yale's Law School. His presentation centered around the Supreme Court and its interaction with International law. Specifically, there were three cases that he covered in some depth, and they were the Hamdi case, the Padilla case, and the Rasu case; all cases in which the US Government, lead by G.W. Bush, held a prisoner indefinitely without due process. Koh's contention was that if we allow the Government to flout International law (via treaties and conventions) then no US Citizen is safe from this government, that any citizen could be accused of being a terrorist and held indefinitely.
He discussed the three mentioned Supreme Court cases, and how the rulings of the Supreme Court are likely to go if they make a sound ruling within the bounds of International laws. He showed us that other US laws apply to Guantanamo Bay Cuba, like the anti-slot machine act, therefore the detainees represented in the Rasu case must have rights under the writs of Habeous Corpus. That the Government does not have the right to indefinitely hold the property of a US Citizen without due process according to the Constitution, therefore they cannot hold a Citizen without due process. He believes that Hamdi (a US Citizen captured in Afganhistan) should be granted Prisoner of War status and dealt with according to the Geneva convention. Further discussing that the Geneva convention is in place to protect American Citizens and Solders abroad, and that we should not subvert it simply because it appears convenient to do so at the moment. Finally, that Padilla is a common criminal and should be charged as such.
Koh's lecture was insightful and balanced. Despite not liking Senator Kerry, the damage G.W. has done to America's International reputation is severe enough that I will likely vote for Kerry purely on that line.
Here's to another first time Democratic voter.
