Justice Department Reportedly Asks Congress for Indefinite Detention Powers To Fight Coronavirus

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is using the COVID-19 outbreak to press for sweeping new powers that include being able to detain Americans indefinitely without a warrant or a trial. The DOJ also is asking Congress to allow the US attorney general to ask courts to suspend trials in violation of the constitutional right to a speedy trial. [Not to worry. It’s necessary to protect against coronavirus. Right?] -GEG

The Justice Department is using the COVID-19 outbreak to press for sweeping new powers that include being able to detain Americans indefinitely without a trial, Politico reports.

The department is asking Congress to allow the U.S. attorney general to ask courts to suspend court proceedings. These include “any statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil process and proceedings,” reports Betsy Woodruff Swan, citing DOJ documents presented to Congress.

In other words, the Justice Department would be able to postpone trials, hearings, and other procedural steps that follow arrest. That represents a potentially huge violation of the constitutional right to a speedy trial.

Those powers would apply “whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation,” Woodruff Swan writes, and would remain in place for “one year following the end of the national emergency.”

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Attorney General Bill Barr Cracks Down ‘Catch-and-Release’ to Discourage Migrants


New US Attorney General William Barr is implementing new rules to curb ‘catch-and-release’ by preventing the release of those seeking asylum by entering the US illegally and claiming ‘credible fear.’ Instead of releasing them, the Department of Homeland Security will have the authority to detain them indefinitely. The effect is expected to discourage new migrants because they will not be able to work and send money to their country of origin if they are imprisoned. The new policy does not apply to family units or unaccompanied children. More than 225,000 family units have been apprehended at the border this year, and a 500% surge in family unit immigrants has been recorded this year. The White House is resuming its ‘remain in Mexico’ policy that is being challenged in a California court. 




Rand Paul Is Blocked from Ending Indefinite Detention of Americans

Republican Senator, Rand Paul, is trying to end the US government’s power to indefinitely detain Americans, because it violates the constitutional right to a speedy and public trial He is seeking support for a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) Act, because he sees the existing version as a blank check for costly and unfettered war. In the meantime, he has introduced an amendment to the existing bill to partially achieve his objective. The inclusion of the amendment in the GOP package to be attached to the new military spending bill requires consent from all senators but is short by one vote, believed to belong to Senator Lindsey Graham. Graham, a retired colonel, in the past has supported indefinite detainment and has opposed limiting the president’s ability to conduct war without the consent of Congress. -GEG

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wants to end the U.S. government’s ability to detain people indefinitely, arguing that it violates Americans’ Sixth Amendment rights to a speedy and public trial.

He has proposed an amendment to the yearly, must-pass defense legislation authorizing Pentagon spending that would repeal a 2012 provision giving the president the ability to indefinitely detain anyone based on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).

Paul, a Libertarian, has long-pushed for Congress to approve a new AUMF, arguing that it is a blank check for costly and unfettered war.

However, sources suspect that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is secretly blocking the amendment from being included in a package of GOP amendments that would be voted on and attached to the defense bill, since its inclusion requires consent from all senators.

“It is inconceivable that in 2018, a senator would block language to prevent indefinite detention of Americans. What happened to the rule of law? Lindsey Graham should own up to this and explain to innocent Americans why he’s fine with detaining them indefinitely,” said a senior Senate aide.

Breitbart News reached out to Graham’s office to confirm whether it was true, but did not receive a response on that specific question.

Graham, a retired colonel, has in the past supported the ability to indefinitely detain those captured under the current AUMF and has opposed limits on the president’s ability to conduct war.

But Paul argues the law currently would also allow American citizens apprehended within the boundaries of the U.S. could be held indefinitely without trial.

“Giving the accused their day in court isn’t a suggestion,” Paul said in a statement to the Washington Examiner last year. “It’s enshrined in our Constitution as a cornerstone of our judicial system. My bill reminds our government that the Founders did not put an expiration date on the Sixth Amendment.”

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