[lbo-talk] Declaring someone an Enemy Combatant = Bill of Attainder?

[Michael Pollak]

[Interesting interpretation by someone named Ed Furey]

http://www.juancole.com/2006/10/unconstitutionality-of-military.html

<begin excerpt>
 

       Beyond repealing habeas

       corpus, another grotesque violation of the Constitution is

       implicated in that legislation. The Constitution specifically

       forbids the passage of a "bill of attainder." In the old

       days, when kings and others were not certain they get a judge

       or jury to convict someone of a crime, they would simply

       declare them guilty (attainted) and imprison, torture and/or

       execute them. When Parliaments did this they passed a "bill

       of attainder" declaring the person guilty of a crime. What

       this recent piece of legislation has done is to declare a

       whole class of persons, "unlawful enemy combatants," to be

       criminals, subject to punishment -- imprisonment without

       trial and torture -- at the discretion of the president. By

       the way, this does not exclude American citizens.

<end excerpt>

Michael