It was announced today that Brandon Mayfield, who was arrested in connection to the Madrid bombings, would receive $2 million and an apology from the United States Government for wrongly detaining him.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation released this statement:
"The United States of America apologizes to Mr. Brandon Mayfield and his family for the suffering caused by the FBI's misidentification of Mr. Mayfield's fingerprint and the resulting investigation of Mr. Mayfield, including his arrest as a material witness in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the execution of search warrants and other court orders in the Mayfield family home and in Mr. Mayfield's law office."
This is an interesting case because it may provide a precedent for hundreds of people who are currently being detained by the U.S. government. However, Mr. Mayfield is a U.S. citizen and may subsequently restrict the use of this case to a finite number of individuals. Regardless, the court’s decision is a monumental step towards resolving a human rights issue that has plagued the current administration.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
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2 comments:
This is an unfortunate story but that said I feel that our government must do everything to protect us from those that would, could, did and will do us great harm. There will be collateral damage as is the case in any war, but the focus must remain the benefit of the many and sacrificing the few.
This is not made easier by the political left; they have always been a noisy bunch that seeing conspiracies everywhere. This stems all the way back to the Vietnam War. The whole reason we lost that war was due to the fact that the politicians running the war lost their resolve due to the boisterous left and all their antics.
By the way, holding individuals indefinitely is nothing new. After the outbreak of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, claiming emergency powers, suspended habeas corpus, a person’s right to have a judge determine the legality of his imprisonment. Lincoln authorized the military to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone suspected of aiding the rebels.
Mad Max... Citing Lincoln's actions seems a little absurd to me, considering that was almost 150 years ago and during a civil war. (And blaming the loss of the Vietnam War on liberal antics...lame!) I believe that the American government does have a responsibilty to protect us to the best of its ability but without violating civil rights. To quote my dear friend Ben Franklin, "Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither freedom nor security." To be free is to take a risk; that is what America is about. We give up some security for freedom, and that should apply here as well. The US obviously feels it was in the wrong or it would never compensate this young man.
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