{"id":9704,"date":"2020-03-23T07:47:47","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T11:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=9704"},"modified":"2020-03-24T19:28:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T23:28:12","slug":"red-alert-doj-wants-indefinite-detention-power-during-an-emergency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=9704","title":{"rendered":"RED ALERT! <b>DOJ Wants Power to Indefinitely Detain During an Emergency<\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>DOJ seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>One of the requests to Congress would allow the department to petition a judge to indefinitely detain someone during an emergency.<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_9791\" style=\"width: 823px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9791\" class=\"wp-image-9791 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-03-24-at-7.23.45-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"813\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-03-24-at-7.23.45-PM.png 813w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-03-24-at-7.23.45-PM-300x201.png 300w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-03-24-at-7.23.45-PM-768x515.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 813px) 100vw, 813px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9791\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedestrians walk in Central Park on March 20 in New York as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States. | Cindy Ord\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN<br \/>\nPOLITICO<\/p>\n<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story\">\n<div class=\"container container--story story-layout--fluid-fixed\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story summary-middle\">\n<div class=\"container__row container__row--story story-layout--fixed-fluid\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story center-horizontally\">\n<div class=\"story-text\">\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The Justice Department has quietly asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies \u2014 part of a push for new powers that comes as the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Documents reviewed by POLITICO detail the department\u2019s requests to lawmakers on a host of topics, including the statute of limitations, asylum and the way court hearings are conducted. POLITICO also reviewed and previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/21\/doj-merger-reviews-coronavirus-140669\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a> on documents seeking the authority to extend deadlines on merger reviews and prosecutions.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"story-enhancement\"><\/aside>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the documents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story main-section\">\n<div class=\"container container--story story-layout--fixed-fluid\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story\">\n<div class=\"container__row container__row--story story-layout--fluid-fixed\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story center-horizontally\">\n<div class=\"story-text\">\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The move has tapped into a broader fear among civil liberties advocates and Donald Trump\u2019s critics \u2014 that the president will use a moment of crisis to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/09\/trump-team-policy-border-china-tax-124166\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>push for<\/u><\/a> controversial policy changes. Already, he has cited the pandemic as a reason for heightening border restrictions and restricting asylum claims. He has also pushed for further tax cuts as the economy withers, arguing it would soften the financial blow to Americans. And even without policy changes, Trump has vast emergency powers that he could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/13\/trump-extreme-powers-coronavirus-129176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>deploy<\/u><\/a> right now to try to slow the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The DOJ requests \u2014 which are unlikely to make it through a Democratic-led House \u2014 span several stages of the legal process, from initial arrest to how cases are processed and investigated.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">In one of the documents, the department proposed that Congress grant the attorney general power to ask the chief judge of any district court to pause court proceedings \u201cwhenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The proposal would also grant those top judges broad authority to pause court proceedings during emergencies. It would apply to \u201cany statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil process and proceedings,\u201d according to draft legislative language the department shared with Congress. In making the case for the change, the DOJ wrote that individual judges can currently pause proceedings during emergencies but that their proposal would make sure all judges in any particular district could handle emergencies \u201cin a consistent manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The request raised eyebrows because of its potential implications for habeas corpus \u2014 the constitutional right to appear before a judge after arrest and seek release.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cNot only would it be a violation of that, but it says \u2018affecting pre-arrest,\u2019\u201d said Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. \u201cSo that means you could be arrested and never brought before a judge until they decide that the emergency or the civil disobedience is over. I find it absolutely terrifying. Especially in a time of emergency, we should be very careful about granting new powers to the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Reimer said the possibility of chief judges suspending all court rules during an emergency without a clear end in sight was deeply disturbing.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cThat is something that should not happen in a democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The department also asked Congress to pause the statute of limitations for criminal investigations and civil proceedings during national emergencies, \u201cand for one year following the end of the national emergency,\u201d according to the draft legislative text.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Trump recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/13\/coronavirus-emergency-declaration-trump-128530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>declared<\/u><\/a> the coronavirus crisis a national emergency.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Another controversial request: The department is looking to change the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure in some cases to expand the use of videoconference hearings and to let some of those hearings happen without defendants\u2019 consent, according to the draft legislative text.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cVideo teleconferencing may be used to conduct an appearance under this rule,\u201d read a draft of potential new language for Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 5(f), crossing out the phrase \u201cif the defendant consents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cVideo teleconferencing may be used to arraign a defendant,\u201d read draft text of rule 10(c), again striking out the phrase \u201cif the defendant consents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Reimer said forcing people to have hearings over video rather than in person would threaten civil liberties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cIf it were with the consent of the accused person it would be fine,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if it\u2019s not with the consent of the accused person, it\u2019s a terrible road to go down. We have a right to public trials. People have a right to be present in court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The department also wants Congress to change the law to explicitly say that people with COVID-19 \u2014 the illness caused by the novel coronavirus \u2014 are not included among those who may apply for asylum. And the department asked for the same change regarding people who are \u201csubject to a presidential proclamation suspending and limiting the entry of aliens into the United States,\u201d according to the draft legislative language.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Layli Miller-Muro, the CEO of the Tahirih Justice Center, which advocates for women and girls fleeing violence, said the language would block anyone on a presidential travel ban list from seeking asylum in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s a humanitarian tragedy that fails to recognize that vulnerable people from those countries are among the most persecuted and that protecting them is exactly what the refugee convention was designed to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">The asylum request comes as the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/20\/us\/politics\/trump-border-coronavirus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>says<\/u><\/a> it will begin denying entry to all migrants illegally crossing the U.S. southern border, including those seeking asylum.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cI hope we come out of this with a sense of oneness, interconnectedness,\u201d Miller-Munro said of the coronavirus pandemic. \u201cBorders can\u2019t protect us. Viruses do not care.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"story-enhancement has-borders\">\n<div class=\"correction\">\n<p>CORRECTION: Layli Miller-Muro\u2018s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/21\/doj-coronavirus-emergency-powers-140023\">https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/21\/doj-coronavirus-emergency-powers-140023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOJ seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}