US Supreme Court Justice Brandeis said:
"Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman."
But there’s no longer much sunlight to disinfect the corruption of the government or the powers-that-be.
More and more commonly, the government prosecutes cases based upon “secret evidence” that they don’t show to the defendant … or sometimes even the judge hearing the case.
As just one example, government is “laundering” information gained through mass surveillance through other agencies, with an agreement that the agencies will “recreate” the evidence in a “parallel construction” … so the original source of the evidence is kept secret from the defendant, defense attorneys and the judge. A former top NSA official says that this is the opposite of following the Fourth Amendment, but is a “totalitarian process” which shows that we’re in a “police state”.
The government uses “secret evidence” to spy on Americans, prosecute leaking or terrorism charges (even against U.S. soldiers) and even assassinate people.
Secret witnesses are being used in some cases. And sometimes lawyers are being prevented from reading their own briefs.
Indeed, even the laws themselves are now starting to be kept secret. And it’s about to get a lot worse.
American citizens are also being detained in Guantanamo-like conditions in Chicago … including being held in secret, with the government refusing to tell a suspect’s lawyer whether his client is being held.
The Department of Defense has also made it a secret – even from Congress – as to the identity of the main enemies of the United States.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/03/secret.html
This is truly astonishing and something the Founders could never have imagined in their worst nightmares.
They gave us all the tools we need to prevent such a thing from happening. Why aren't we using them? And what the hell is wrong with Congress?
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