Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Guantanamo Bay next Monday to examine the facility and learn about interrogation techniques. Holder is part of a panel that will review all aspects of detainee treatment, from apprehension all the way to trials. The panel has 180 days to report to the president, who is trying to close the facility within a year. (Associated Press)
In an example of how hard it may be for Obama to meet that goal, a federal appeals court overturned a judge’s order that would have freed 17 Guantanamo detainees Wednesday. In their ruling, the three judge panel ruled that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Boumediene v. Bush did not give judges the power to release people detained abroad into the general U.S. population. While the option of allowing detainees to be freed in the U.S. still exists, it no longer has legal justification, complicating the Obama administration’s efforts to close the facility. (New York Times)
An internal report released yesterday by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement finds that ICE agents arrested 24 Hispanics at a convenience store in 2007 in order to meet an annual quota of 1,000 arrests. An immigration rights group is now accusing ICE of racial profiling in the raid, in which blacks and whites were ignored. The report’s findings contradict sworn statements by those involved in the raid, who said they just happened to stop by the convenience store after working in neighboring counties, and had their car mobbed by day laborers. The agency’s acting Assistant Secretary will seek an investigation into inconsistencies in sworn statements. (Associated Press)
John Helgerson, the Inspector General of the CIA, will retire in 30 days after a 37-year tenure at the agency, according to an announcement made over the weekend. But a senior CIA official plans to sue Helgerson for what he says amounts to abuse of office. While no details of the suit have been released, a lawyer for the plaintiff says Helgerson has let personal biases cloud his judgment and done little to help individual CIA employees, especially whistleblowers who come to him for help.The lawyer added that the lawsuit will be filed before Helgerson retires. (Congressional Quarterly)
A lawsuit alleging that the Texas Democratic primary elections unfairly award fewer delegates to areas with largely Hispanic populations will be reconsidered after a U.S. appeals court decided a three-judge panel should review a past decision in favor of the party. The Texas system apportions delegates based on turnout in previous state Senate elections. Thus low turnout in Hispanic areas, believed to be caused by 2006 gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell’s outspoken opposition to illegal immigration, resulted in fewer delegates for those areas in the 2008 primaries. (Associated Press)
