NDAA Loses Bar Against Indefinite Detention

It's police state month!

A Congressional conference committee has dropped a provision the Senate passed earlier this year which proponents said would keep American citizens arrested on U.S. soil from being detained indefinitely under the laws of war.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) announced the removal of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's indefinite detention amendment Tuesday afternoon as he described the results of a House-Senate conference on the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.

"The language of the Senate bill was dropped," Levin told reporters, according to POLITICO Pro's Juana Summers. He said that provision and language the House proposed was replaced with language that indicates that last year's NDAA shouldn't be interpreted to preclude Habeas Corpus suits by persons detained in the U.S.

Levin declined to comment on the reasons for or the import of the decision. "Basically, I won't interpret that any further," he added.

Comments

[Jerryskids]

Anders called the language on indefinite detention of Americans "completely meaningless." He said there's no doubt that habeas rights are available to anyone who's detained in the U.S.

He then announced that he was the Queen of Romania, began barking like a dog and repeatedly head-butted a nearby drinking fountain. He is currently seeking treatment for exhaustion. When asked for a comment on the ACLU spokesman's use of the term 'no doubt', President Obama replied, "Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha, ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha. Hah!"

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The 2013 NDAA cannot lose a bar it never had. The Feinstein Amendment amended 18 U.S.C. S. 4001, which does not apply to "military or naval installations."

The Feinstein-Lee amendment did not stop indefinite detention in the NDAA, because it does not amend that detention. Also, Rep. Justin Amash has come out against this amendment, citing many other reasons than this one.