On Sunday the NY Times urged a "must do" list for the administration:
(1) restore habeas corpus,
(2) stop illegal spying, really,
(3) close the CIA prisons,
(4) account for "ghost prisoners,"
(5) ban extraordinary rendition,
(6) tighten the definition of "illegal enemy combatant,"
(7) screen prisoners fairly and effectively,
(8) ban tainted evidence,
(9) ban secret evidence,
(10) better define "classified" evidence,
(11) respect the right to counsel.
But these are just symptoms of the disease that rules The Bush Presidency.
A more comprehensive approach to curing the disease is proposed by Scott Horton here.
Some Key Quotes:
other factors now also appear paramount in this process, including allegiance to the notion of an executive which is not coequal but supreme, or at least vastly more powerful in certain fields (such as war-making, foreign relations and national security) than the other branches. Finally, as Marty Lederman has noted - very astutely in my view - the concept of immunity (or more precisely, impunity) for the executive and its agents plays an increasingly potent role in this process.
....
barely veiled threats, and a number of cases - most significantly involving ending life support to a woman in Florida - show the sort of vicious attacks that can be unleashed on judges who fail to toe the line. In particular, the Bush Administration's agenda here is a complement to its judicial nominations strategy, buttressing a bench packed with ideological adherents by intimidating more moderate and less ideological judges into silence.
...
The Bush Administration has developed the persecution of whistleblowers into a new art form. Whistleblowers who avail themselves of the formal channels find themselves immediately under attack - they face immediate disciplinary review, firing, and harassment and persecution even after their termination.
...
By and large Bush Administration inspectors general understand their role to be this: persecute and silence whistleblowers. Humiliate them. Do whatever you can to make their claims seem ridiculous or not credible. And above all, protect political appointees in the administration.
...
In my career, I witnessed vicious repression of defense counsel in the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and Cuba. I certainly never expected to see it in America. But under the Bush Administration, it has arrived. The particular victims are counsel who volunteer on a pro bono basis - doing a public service - to handle cases for prisoners in the "War on Terror," but detailed JAG lawyers have also taken their blows. These lawyers have been routinely denigrated and attacked by the Administration : Major Dan Mori was recently told by the Gitmo chief prosecutor that criminal charges might be brought against him for his criticisms of the Military Commissions process.
Again I stress, this is so much more important than Scooter....
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