Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, April 22, 2013

Glenn Greenwald on Boston Marathon Arrest: Will We Deny Constitutional Rights in the Name of Fear?

Authorities have used a public safety exception to delay reading Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his "Miranda" rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present, a move that has sparked controversy. The Obama administration has been criticized in the past for rolling back Miranda rights after unilaterally expanding the public safety exception in 2010. A group of Republican lawmakers have also called for Tsarnaev to be held as an "enemy combatant," but the Obama administration has signaled its intention to try him in civilian court. Constitutional lawyer and Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald joins us to discuss the legal issues surrounding the case. "It’s sort of odd that the debate is Lindsey Graham’s extremist theory [to hold Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant] or rushing to give President Obama credit for what ought to be just reflexive — if you arrest a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil of a crime before you imprison him, you actually charge him with a crime and give him the right to a lawyer," Greenwald says. "The fact those are the two extremes being debated I think is illustrative of where we’ve come.”

Original Article
Source: Democracy Now!
Author: --

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