Press Releases
Checks & Balances
Court Rules Bolten and Miers Must Testify
White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten must co-operate with a House Judiciary Committee investigation which is exploring allegations of alleged political misconduct within the Department of Justice.
– 07/31/08
BC Responds: Boumediene & Omar and Munaf Decisions
Today, in two cases, the Supreme Court affirmed the paramount importance of habeas corpus as a cornerstone of the rule of law.
– 06/12/08
Groups Across the Spectrum Join Forces in Defense of Separation of Powers
Attorneys at the Brennan Center filed a brief asking the District Court of Washington DC to allow Congress to proceed with its efforts to enforce the subpoenas issued against White House staffers Joshua Bolten and Harriet Miers.
– 05/29/08
U.S. Government Admits It Destroyed Videotape in Enemy Combatant Case
Yesterday the U.S. government admitted, for the first time, that officials destroyed videotapes that documented interrogations of Ali Almarri, the only alleged “enemy combatant” still detained on U. S. soil.
– 05/02/08
Discredited Yoo Memos Led to “Enemy Combatant” Detainment and Denial of Habeas Corpus
Today, the Brennan Center for Justice asked a federal court to end the detention of a U.S. resident who is being held on the advice of long-discredited Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memos which sought to justify torture and indefinite detention.
– 04/08/08
Government Fails to Muzzle “Peace Pastor” Frederick Boyle
Rev. Boyle, the ordained minister known as the Peace Pastor, reached an agreement with the federal government today that ends his unfair prosecution and maintains his right to speak out against the Iraq War.
– 04/01/08
Brennan Center Asks Supreme Court to Review Habeas Case
Today, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision dismissing the habeas corpus action of Mohammad Munaf, an American citizen facing execution in Iraq. The Brennan Center’s petition argues that the lower court’s decision in Munaf v. Geren creates a dangerous precedent because it allows American citizens to be detained and delivered to another country for execution without judicial review by a U.S. court.
– 06/14/07
Perils of an Unchecked Executive
– 05/08/07
Where’s Congress in this Power Play?
Thirty years ago, a Senate committee headed by the late Sen. Frank Church exposed widespread abuses by law enforcement and intelligence agencies dating to the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. In the name of “national security,” the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency spied on politicians, protest groups and civil rights activists; illegally opened mail; and sponsored scores of covert operations abroad, many of which imperiled democracy in foreign countries.
– 04/01/07
Federal Judge Strikes Down Warrantless Spying Program
A federal district judge in Detroit today struck down the Presidents warrantless domestic spying program operated by the National Security Agency. The decision by Judge Anna Diggs Taylor is yet another setback for the Presidents claim of unchecked executive power, and an important victory for the rule of law.
– 08/17/06