Michael Chertoff Picked for Homeland Security Post
I thought I'd do a little research on Michael Chertoff, Bush's new and improved pick to head the Office of Homeland Security.
What I find most disturbing is his argument about Miranda Rights in 2002. You can read about the case here.
A fellow named Oliver Martinez was riding his bicycle home from his job picking strawberries, and some police officers thought he was selling drugs in the strawberry field.
When Martinez passed, they demanded he stop, get off his bicycle and 'assume the position.' One officer located Martinez' strawberry knife. A struggle of some sort ensued, although police have conceded Martinez never struck or kicked them. One of the cops opened fire on Martinez, pumping him with five bullets, leaving him blind in one eye and paralyzed.
Immediately after the shooting, Martinez was taken to the hospital. The police barged their way into the emergency room where Martinez was being treated. He repeatedly told them he did not want to talk to them. They persisted in trying to question him until he passed out.
Chertoff argued that there is no clearly established constitutional right to be free from police interroogation and that therefore Martinez's suit should be dismissed.
Chertoff was also chief consel to the Senate Whitewater Committee, and we all know how that turned out. He should probably downplay that part of his resume, maybe just put it in the fine print.
And then there's Elaine Cassel who doesn't have too many nice things to say about him and calls him John Ashcroft's Top Gremlin.
However, one good thing I see about him, is his interest in setting standards for dealing with enemy combatants rather that just treating them however the captor's whim may dictate.
Another top former Justice Department official, Michael Chertoff, who headed the department's criminal division, has said he believed the government should reconsider how it designates enemy combatants.
"Two years into the war on terror, it is time to move beyond case-by-case development," Chertoff said, according to an excerpt from a speech he gave last month at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law school.
"We need to debate a long-term and sustainable architecture for the process of determining when, why and for how long someone may be detained as an enemy combatant, and what judicial review should be available," he said.
It will be interesting to see what else we will find out about Chertoff, but I hope that after the Bernard Kerik debacle, the Bush Administration did a thorough background check.
What I find most disturbing is his argument about Miranda Rights in 2002. You can read about the case here.
A fellow named Oliver Martinez was riding his bicycle home from his job picking strawberries, and some police officers thought he was selling drugs in the strawberry field.
When Martinez passed, they demanded he stop, get off his bicycle and 'assume the position.' One officer located Martinez' strawberry knife. A struggle of some sort ensued, although police have conceded Martinez never struck or kicked them. One of the cops opened fire on Martinez, pumping him with five bullets, leaving him blind in one eye and paralyzed.
Immediately after the shooting, Martinez was taken to the hospital. The police barged their way into the emergency room where Martinez was being treated. He repeatedly told them he did not want to talk to them. They persisted in trying to question him until he passed out.
Chertoff argued that there is no clearly established constitutional right to be free from police interroogation and that therefore Martinez's suit should be dismissed.
Chertoff was also chief consel to the Senate Whitewater Committee, and we all know how that turned out. He should probably downplay that part of his resume, maybe just put it in the fine print.
And then there's Elaine Cassel who doesn't have too many nice things to say about him and calls him John Ashcroft's Top Gremlin.
However, one good thing I see about him, is his interest in setting standards for dealing with enemy combatants rather that just treating them however the captor's whim may dictate.
Another top former Justice Department official, Michael Chertoff, who headed the department's criminal division, has said he believed the government should reconsider how it designates enemy combatants.
"Two years into the war on terror, it is time to move beyond case-by-case development," Chertoff said, according to an excerpt from a speech he gave last month at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law school.
"We need to debate a long-term and sustainable architecture for the process of determining when, why and for how long someone may be detained as an enemy combatant, and what judicial review should be available," he said.
It will be interesting to see what else we will find out about Chertoff, but I hope that after the Bernard Kerik debacle, the Bush Administration did a thorough background check.
posted by cookie christine @ 1/11/2005
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