Ill. prison to get Gitmo detainees

[jedi]

Hum... "Chicago politics play here"?

SOURCE:
AP sources: Ill. prison to get Gitmo detainees - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.
Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.
Officials from both the White House and Durbin's office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting Tuesday's announcement.
A Durbin aide said the facility would house federal inmates and no more than 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
The facility in Thomson had emerged as a clear front-runner after Illinois officials, led by Durbin, enthusiastically embraced the idea of turning a near-dormant prison over to federal officials.
The White House has been coy about its selection process, but on Friday a draft memo leaked to a conservative Web site that seemed to indicate officials were homing in on Thomson.
The Thomson Correctional Center was one of several potential sites evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to potentially house detainees from the Navy-run prison at Guantanamo Bay. Officials with other prisons, including Marion, Ill., Hardin, Mont., and Florence, Colo., have said they would welcome the jobs that would be created by the new inmates.
Closing Guantanamo is a top priority for Obama, and he signed an executive order hours into his presidency directing that the process of closing the prison begin. Obama has said he wants terrorism suspects transferred to American soil so they can be tried for their suspected crimes.
The Thomson Correctional Center was built by Illinois in 2001 as a state prison with the potential to house maximum security inmates. Local officials hoped it would improve the local economy, providing jobs to a hard-hit community. State budget problems, however, have kept the 1,600-cell prison from ever fully opening. At present, it houses about 200 minimum-security inmates.
Obama has faced some resistance to the idea of housing terrorism suspects in the United States, but in Thomson many have welcomed the prospect as a potential economic engine. Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler, was asleep when the word came that Thomson had been chosen.
"It's news to me, but then I'm always the last to know anything," Hebeler said Monday night of the news affecting his town of 450 residents. "It'll be good for the village and the surrounding area, especially with all the jobs that have been lost here."
But Hebeler said he wouldn't rejoice until "the ink is on the paper" because previous plans for increased use of the nearly empty prison have fallen through.
Some Illinois officials have not supported the idea. GOP Rep. Mark Kirk, who is seeking Obama's old Senate seat, said he believes moving Guantanamo detainees to Illinois will make the state a greater threat for terrorist attacks. Kirk has lobbied other officials to contact the White House in opposition to using the facility.
To be sure, Thomson will not solve all the administration's Guantanamo-related problems. There still will be dozens of detainees who are not relocated to Thomson, other legal issues and potential resistance from Congress.
Thomson is a symbolic step, however, a clear sign that the United States is working to find a new place to hold detainees from Guantanamo.

 

[dsol]

I wonder who's pockets are getting lined there? I'll bet that someone is making a small fortune just being the middleman, selling some worthless property, pouring concrete that is already there, and providing security then hiring bums off the street.

 

[jedi]

Well IL is strapped for CASH and since this is a STATE facility that the FEDs are buying that is some $$$ into the treasury of the state. Now in terms of who benefits (locally) not sure yet. I'm guessing that it will be biz with ties to Chicago.

 

[melensdad]

So now will these prisoners get tried in US court or will they still be tried by Military Tribunal?

 

[jedi]

In neither that would be so "unhuman" of the USA to do! First we are going to bring them ove here so the sheep see that they are not evil men who want to kill us. But just lost unfortunalte souls who were caught by mistake by BUSH's evil war. They are victims of BUSH's war. So in afew months/years we will release them quielty.

 

[ar15junkie]

Surprise surprise, more shady o'bummer Illinois politics. I'm also curious what kind of trial they will receive and who will be guarding them. Seems wrong to have civies guarding military prisoners.

 

[Robert Richardson]

More money for the home state.

 

[Panama]

So now will these prisoners get tried in US court or will they still be tried by Military Tribunal?

A U.S. Court, I believe?
I am not a Constitutional scholar by any stretch, but I believe I am correct on this one.
In the absence of new legislation, i.e. a Constitutional Amendment, when their feet hit American soil, they will be "necessarily" afforded ALL rights guaranteed under our Constitution.

Is this not correct?
We will be finding out sometime in Jan 2010.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

oh just wait. this will not end well. remember terrorists do not care if they live or die. bad things are going to happen to guards trying to do their jobs and also innocent people who reside around the area. bonehead move if you ask me.

 

[jedi]

oh just wait. this will not end well. remember terrorists do not care if they live or die. bad things are going to happen to guards trying to do their jobs and also innocent people who reside around the area. bonehead move if you ask me.

Seriously doubt that. BAD THINGS can/could have happen to the guard while in GITMO & they have not. The bigger issue is what Panama stated which I had not though of before. Once they hit US SOIL they may have to be tried under the courts & not mil tribunals. Hum... interesting...

 

[BloodEclipse]

This is smoke and mirrors. It is GITMO North. The idea of GITMO was the detention of terrorists, that will not change just because they are being moved.
What it does do, is to create a reachable target for terrorists on American soil.

EDIT: I found this
Creating a 'Gitmo North' an Alarming Step, Says ACLU

December 15, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – The Obama administration announced today that it will purchase the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois for the purpose of holding some of the detainees currently remaining at Guantánamo. Though the administration is leaving unsaid which detainees will be moved there and for what purposes, the information it has provided indicates that some detainees might be held for military commission proceedings in Illinois while others might be held at Thomson indefinitely without charge or trial.

The administration has stated that "any detainees at Guantánamo who continue to be held, and for whom no prosecution is planned, will be held only under authority granted by Congress in 2001 under the Authorization for Use of Military Force, as informed by the law of war." However, the so-called war on terrorism is not a traditional war, having no temporal or geographical boundaries.

The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU:

"The creation of a 'Gitmo North' in Illinois is hardly a meaningful step forward. Shutting down Guantánamo will be nothing more than a symbolic gesture if we continue its lawless policies onshore.

"Alarmingly, all indications are that the administration plans to continue its predecessor's policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial for some detainees, with only a change of location. Such a policy is completely at odds with our democratic commitment to due process and human rights whether it's occurring in Cuba or in Illinois. In fact, while the Obama administration inherited the Guantánamo debacle, this current move is its own affirmative adoption of those policies. It is unimaginable that the Obama administration is using the same justification as the Bush administration used to undercut centuries of legal jurisprudence and the principle of innocent until proven guilty and the right to confront one's accusers.

"It is also greatly disturbing that the administration will continue the use of military commissions, which are no more acceptable in Illinois or any other U.S. state than in Guantánamo. Despite some improvements, the commissions still fall far short of the legal standards necessary to comply with constitutional and international standards, allowing, for example, the use of coerced and hearsay evidence that would not be allowed in federal court. The proceedings will achieve neither reliable justice nor a restoration of America's credibility around the world.

"The administration must also make very clear what category of detainee will be transferred to Thomson in the future and what kind of prison conditions will apply. Detainees not charged with a crime should not be subject to punitive conditions meant for sentenced prisoners who have been found guilty in a court of law, and all conditions must comply with the Geneva Conventions.

"The administration will no doubt be looking to Congress for legislative buy-in for this facility, and as both branches work together, we strongly urge lawmakers to legislate responsibly and not set any policies or precedents for indefinite detention on U.S. soil, or create any violation of the Geneva Conventions.

"The Obama administration's announcement today contradicts everything the president has said about the need for America to return to leading with its values. American values do not contemplate disregarding our Constitution and skirting the criminal justice system. After detaining hundreds of individuals without the basic due process rights that define our justice system for almost eight years, it is time to charge suspects where evidence exists and repatriate and transfer the rest to countries where they won't be tortured."

 

[Dr Falken]

Well now I can tell my parents that not only do they live 10 miles from a Nuclear Power plant, but now they can have alleged terrorist 40 miles away! What a combination!