Criminal law principles and applications

Criminal Law

Civil Liberties & Issues of National / Legal Interest

The three Websites that were selected for this paper are: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (www.aclu.org);LegalInformation Institute (LII) / Cornell University Law School (www.law.cornell.edu/);andFriends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) (www.fcnl.org/indexhtm).

Answer (a): The Friends Committee on National Legislation site was found by typing "Civil Liberties" into Google; the ALCU site is saved on my "Bookmarks" list; and the Cornell University Law School site, Legal Information Institute (LII) was found through a Google search "Legal Websites."

Answer (b): The information on all three sites is very useful. The ACLU Web site is of particular interest because their lawyers and researchers dig out specific federal and international laws as they pertain to issues that are now before the citizens of the U.S. But of immediate interest is their far left hand column which always has updated information on issues like "Torture," which is of paramount concern to many Americans who don't believe the U.S. military should be engaging in torture tactics against prisoners. When the ALCU publishes an article about a controversial topic, it may be subjective and supportive of one particular viewpoint, but readers can be sure that it has been researched by lawyers or by paralegals that know and understand the law.

The LII site has a tremendous amount of data relating to recent court cases, current law under the Supreme Court, Federal rules, and directories to all laws in the U.S. The FCNL site is devoted to civil liberties but also to peace and the environment, Native American issues and the federal budget.

Answer -: All three sites are very well organized, easy to navigate, and user-friendly in all ways. Answer (d): I believe that the reliability of these three sources is very good.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: On their home page the ACLU present a long list of links to issues like "Criminal Justice," "Death Penalty," "Disability Rights," "Police Practices," "Racial Justice" and much more, including "Voting Rights," "Human Rights," "Immigrants' Right," "Rights of the Poor," and "Women's Rights." But as mentioned, the hottest topic they have recently investigated is always on the upper left hand portion of the home page. In this case it is "Torture" - "Newly Released Government Documents show Special Forces Used Illegal Interrogation Techniques in Afghanistan."

In that document, obtained by the ACLU through the Freedom of Information Act (the ACLU had to sue the Department of Defense using the Freedom of Information Act) (printed easily thanks to "printer friendly" software on the ACLU site), it appears that the Special Operations officers in Gardez, Afghanistan, used illegal tactics on prisoners.

The information obtained reveals that the Special Operations unit "beat, burned, and doused eight prisoners with cold water before sending them into freezing weather conditions" (ACLU, 2008). One of the eight prisoners died in March 2003; he was Jamal Naseer. A criminal investigation into Naseer's death (by the military) resulted in the military announcing that Naseer's death was due to "a stomach ailment" (albeit no autopsy had been done on Naseer). The investigation also determined that "charges of torture were unsupported" even though the report indicated "numerous witness statements describing the evidence of torture."

The ACLU offers a link to other materials they have received as a result of their lawsuits, including a "secret Bush Administration Torture Memo" that is available online. In the memo, written by John C. Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, the chief counsel to the Department of Defense is advised by Yoo that it's basically okay to torture prisoners, because "...federal criminal laws of general applicability do not apply to properly-authorized interrogations of enemy combatants, undertaken by military personnel in the courts of an armed conflict."

FRIENDS COMMITTEE on NATIONAL LEGISLATION: The FCNL Website offerings range from urging Congress to "reject the failed U.S. war strategy" to describing the "Dangerous Immigration Bill in House" to the story of the U.S. House of Representatives refusing to grant immunity for spying. In the spying story, the FCNL position is that spying on American citizens (tapping phones) without a warrant is illegal. The FCNL article gives visitors to the site the data on which Senators and members of the House voted for and against legislation referring to warrantless wiretapping. "Senate condones warrantless spying program," the headline reads, and the story outlines the 68-29 Senate vote that basically grants "blanket immunity to phone companies that broke the law" by allowing the Bush Administration to have access to private phone records as part of the "war on terrorism." The House, meanwhile, passed a bill 213-197, that "restores court oversight to the government spying program" and also holds the big telecommunications companies (Verizon, att, etc.) accountable for handing over the private phone records to the government without a warrant that requires them to do so.

The FCNL site quotes from the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated."

Other issues that the FCNL site covers with regard to civil liberties include the latest immigration bill "SAVE Act (HR 4088), which would place all citizens "at risk" by instituting an "employment verification system" relying on databases that have an "unacceptably high error rate." HR 4088 would also "dramatically expand detention space" for illegals and would allow the detention of children. It would embrace the "militarization" of the border, which is not a good idea, according to FCNL; what should be done in terms of civil liberties, is to offer "solutions for the millions of undocumented people" and one of those solutions is to create a "viable path to citizenship."

THE LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE: This site (courtesy of Cornell University Law School) is far more about law and specific aspects of federal and state laws than the other two sites. And though it has a large treasure trove of information about civil liberties-related legislation and law, it does not act as an advocate as the first two sites do. Under the topic, "Law About..." The LII site offers "state statues by topic," "federal statures by topic," commerce, taxation, family law, Constitutional Law, Enterprise Law, "accidents and injuries," "Criminal law & Procedure," courts, government, "topics for particular groups," "Legal Theory," "International Law," and much more.