Gyroscope

A newsletter for those unmoved by spin.
No. 63, March 7, 2005

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The sad murder of a judge's family brings to mind the need to praise those who defend our liberty.

John Shaw, 75, retired Presbyterian minister, from Sammamish, Washington; Michelle D, Green, Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force; Alexandra Hay, 22, student, Middlebury College in Vermont.

These and others are on the secret no-fly list, and they don't know why. Convicted of nothing, indicted for nothing, these people have been stopped from getting on planes, searched, had their luggage opened and no one can tell them why. It seems to most likely be sloppiness rather than persecution by the government, but the government seems in no hurry, even when sued by the ACLU, to do anything about it. In December 2002, thousands of people were on the list. The ACLU suit made it to court in November of 2004. Recently Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), and Congressman Don Young (R-AK) have also been stopped from flying because they appear on the list. (Other sources: Seattle Times, p. B5, 11/5/04)

Berly Feliz.

Berly, 47, immigrated illegally to the US ten years ago. When she recently dropped by federal immigration headquarters to do paperwork to renew her work authorization the old deportation order was found. She was handcuffed, put in jail and within a few hours was on a plane back to Honduras - without a chance to speak to her husband, an American citizen, or her 8 year old daughter. Previously the immigration officials had issued her a green card. The daughter is now having significant psychological problems. She is trying to get back to the US legally. So much for the Bush administration's committment to the family. Cases like this are not rare. (Source: New York Times, 11/24/04, p. 1)

David Joseph

Mr. Joseph is a refugee from Haiti who sought asylum in the United States. No one has lodged any charges against him, nor has he been accused by federal officials of being a terrorist. He has sat in federal custody for two years. Despite rulings from an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals that he should be freed on bond, Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to let him go because, he claimed that there was terrorism in Haiti and that releasing him on bond might encourage others from Haiti to come here. He was part of a group of 213 boat people who landed here and were immediately arrested. Most were deported back to Haiti immediately. Finally, in Dec, 2004 Joseph was sent back, despite his claim that his family was targeted for violence in Haiti. (Source: New York Times, Bob Herbert, Aug. 13, 04, pA23; Newsdesk.org)

Yaser Esam Hamdi

Hamdi, an American citizen, was captured in Afghanistan and held as an enemy combatant. For three years he sat in jail, with limited access to his attorney. The US Supreme Court ruled in June of 2004 that Hamdi should have the right to mount a defense against his detention. No charges, not even treason for fighting against the US, were ever filed against Hamdi. His defense council argued Hamdi had never raised arms against the US. In October 2004, still never charged with a crime, he was released to Saudi Arabia. If Hamdi took up arms against the US, then he is not a hero of civil liberties, but he is worth remembering in that became an agent of causing the Supreme Court to reaffirm rights we all benefit from. (Source: NYT, Aug 13, 2004, P.A10; Jurist)

Donald Lamp

Lamp, a WWII veteran, tried to hang an American flag from his balcony in his retirement community. But that violated a policy against exterior hangings. The case highlights the growing restrictions on free speech due to more and more of our public lives being conducted in private spaces. You can stand on the street corner and give a speech, I suppose, you cannot do it in a shopping mall, since the latter space is private. You have a right to walk down the street past stores, but if they want to keep you out of the mall, they can. Likewise, restrictive covenants and various rules of condo associations, apartment complexes and retirement homes restrict free speech and free movement. I have been unable to find out what happened in this particular case. (Source: USA Today, Aug. 18, 2004, 13)

Sarah Bardwell

Sarah, a 21 year old intern with the American Friends Service Committee in Denver. In June four FBI agents and two Denver police showed up to question her for 25 minutes about suspected terrorist activity and to ask her is she was planning on doing violence at the Democratic convention. Well, she assured them she wasn't, especially since she wasn't going to the convention. They left, warning her they'd use more intrusive methods to get their information. Many other protesters and people who were going to the Democratic convention were similarly targeted by the FBI. (Source: NYT, Aug 17, 2004, p. A24, MSNBC).

The Sargsyan family

The Sargsyan's emigrated from Armenia in the 1990s and settled in Ridgway, Colorado, a small town on the west side of the Rockies. They joined a church, the kids were active in school, they worked various blue-collar jobs.. But one member of the family had been married to a con-man who turned in the family for alleged immigration violations, including working when they had come here on a student visa. Soon, the entire family was in jail in Denver. The little town rallied to defend a family that seemed the very model of what immigration to the US was all about. In February, their case was reopened, staying immediate deportation, but they still are under attack by the Immigration service. Apparently, it has never occurred to the government that justice would be better served by having them pay a fine for the technical violation and let a good family build up America and let law enforcement focus on serious cases. (NYT, Dec. 13, 2004, p. A16, Telluride Watch, Save the Sargsyans, )

Judge Joan Lefkow

Judge Lefkow lost her husband and mother, due, presumably, to payback from the militia movement after she ruled against them. This hasn't yet been proven, but the assumption is not a far-fetched one.