Bill Proposes Indefinitely Detaining U.S. Citizens without Trial

After the abuses of the U.S. Constitution after 9/11, I thought that the country’s craziness had gone as far as possible. I was wrong.

The latest abuse coming out of the Senate has gone far beyond what happened ten years ago. A proposed bill will give the president—any president—the right to order the military to imprison U.S. citizens without charge or trial anywhere in the world, including theUnited States.

This inexcusable bill is in S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which was scheduled for debate today. The bill was drafted in secret by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) and passed in a closed-door committee meeting, without even a single hearing. Fortunately Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) is offering the Udall Amendment to delete these provisions.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) justified the bill by claiming that it will “basically say in law for the first time that the homeland is part of the battlefield” and people can be imprisoned without charge or trial “American citizen or not.” Another supporter, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) also asserted that “America is part of the battlefield.”

Although some people have purported that this  indefinite detention legislation does not apply to American citizens. They are wrong. Section 1031 of the bill states that there is no exemption for U.S. citizens to be indefinitely detained without charge or trial if the president orders the military to do this.

America is NOT a battlefield. America is currently a free country, and the Constitution states that American citizens cannot be arrested by the military and certainly not without being charged or getting a trial. This bill would remove more of our liberties. “The U.S. is part of the battlefield” bill can be stopped if senators vote YES on the Udall Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Make a difference; contact your senator.