Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill - washingtonpost.com

Other than codifying King George's right to do as he damn well pleases, the Senate, yesterday, granted him and his cabal of crooks a legislative pardon for everything at which he has already been caught.

In so doing, the Senate has taken us far beyond a point of no return, as it severely limits legal accountability for this appallingly corrupt administration.

Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill - washingtonpost.com:

The military trials bill approved by Congress lends legislative support for the first time to broad rules for the detention, interrogation, prosecution and trials of terrorism suspects far different from those in the familiar American criminal justice system.

President Bush's argument that the government requires extraordinary power to respond to the unusual threat of terrorism helped him win final support for a system of military trials with highly truncated defendant's rights. The United States used similar trials on just four occasions: during the country's revolution, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and World War II.

Included in the bill, passed by Republican majorities in the Senate yesterday and the House on Wednesday, are unique rules that bar terrorism suspects from challenging their detention or treatment through traditional habeas corpus petitions. They allow prosecutors, under certain conditions, to use evidence collected through hearsay or coercion to seek criminal convictions.

The bill rejects the right to a speedy trial and limits the traditional right to self-representation by requiring that defendants accept military defense attorneys. Panels of military officers need not reach unanimous agreement to win convictions, except in death penalty cases, and appeals must go through a second military panel before reaching a federal civilian court.