Bush Memo's Released

Bush-era memo: President has right to transfer prisoners anywhere despite torture concerns Baltimore Sun — A newly released Bush administration legal memo from 2002 claimed that the president has an unfettered right to transfer suspected terrorists to other governments without regard for whether they would be subject to torture. The memo appears to underpin the Bush administration's use of extraordinary rendition, a secret program of moving terror detainees to nations where they were imprisoned and, in some cases, reportedly tortured. click to read complete article

Bush Administration Acknowledged Denying Constitutional Rights Politonomist — The Obama administration Monday acknowledged nearly a decade of constitutional tampering by the Bush administration, releasing a number of Justice Department and CIA memos which identified and spoke of the blatant “just a piece of paper” attitude seen in the Bush administration’s reign. Anti-terror memos which granted extra-constitutional search and seizure powers, and the acknowledgment of the destruction of 92 videotapes of interrogations and mistreatment of terrorist suspects that may have been considered torture. click to read complete article

Bush-era memos saw rights limits in US terror war Reuters — The U.S. military could have kicked in doors to raid a suspected terrorist cell in the United States without a warrant under a Bush-era legal memo the Justice Department made public on Monday. The memo, from Oct. 23, 2001, also said constitutional free-speech protections and a prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure could take a back seat to military needs in fighting terrorism inside the country. click to read complete article