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December 2, 2009

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Letter: ‘Torture Indemnity Act’ unconstitutional

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

Perhaps the most glaringly unconstitutional provision of Bush's Military Commissions Act of 2006, which I would refer to as the Torture Indemnity Act, is as follows:

"Section 6(3) Interpretation by the president ...

"(A) As provided by the Constitution and by this section, the President has the authority for the United States to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions (pg 33)"

But, according to the United States Constitution, Article III:

"Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ;"

Now, I'm not a lawyer, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but some things are pretty clear, if words are to have any lexical meaning whatsoever. The Supreme Court, not the Boy King (the president of the United States), interprets the meaning and applicability of treaties, such as the Geneva Conventions.

Robert Gladd, Las Vegas

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