Civil Liberties

NDAA Loses Bar Against Indefinite Detention

It's police state month!

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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.