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U.S. Court Reverses $54M Verdict Against Salvadoran Generals
Accused of Torture
Sen. Leahy on Bush's Judicial Nominees: You Can't "Make
The Judiciary An Arm Of The Republican Party"
48 Vermont Towns Vote Against Iraq War, Call for State's
National Guard to Come Home
Supreme Court Abolishes Death Penalty For Juveniles in Landmark
Ruling
U.S. Court Reverses $54M Verdict Against Salvadoran
Generals Accused of Torture
A 54.6 million dollar verdict against two retired Salvadoran
generals accused of torture in their home country two decades
ago was reversed this week by a federal appeals court which
ruled that the victim's claims failed to meet a 10-year statute-of-limitations
rule. We speak with one of the plaintiffs in the case who
was tortured in El Salvador and one the lawyers in the suit.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First
filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of eight men who say they were tortured
by U.S. forces in custody in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Lucas Guttentag, attorney for the ACLU
describing the torture allegations.
Meanwhile, a major court ruling in another high-profile torture
lawsuit was in the news this week. A 54.6 million dollar verdict
against two retired Salvadoran generals accused of torture
in their home country two decades ago was reversed this week
by a federal appeals court.
It is the second time the two generals - who have been living
in Florida since 1989 - have prevailed in cases involving
human rights violations.
In November 2000, a federal jury found that José Guillermo
García and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova couldn't be
held responsible for the murders of four American churchwomen
who were raped and executed by Salvadoran soldiers in 1980.
Jurors concluded the two men didn't have effective control
over their own military at the time.
But less than two years later, another jury found the military
commanders were civilly liable under the 1991 Torture Victim
Protection Act in a lawsuit brought by a church worker, doctor
and professor who fled to the United States after being brutalized
by Salvadoran soldiers. That 54 million dollar verdict was
reversed Monday when the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Atlanta ruled that the victim's claims failed to meet a
10-year statute-of-limitations rule.
- Carlos Mauricio, one of the plaintiffs in the case. He
was a professor at the University of El Salvador when he
was detained in June 1983 and tortured for nearly two weeks
at the National Police Headquarters. After coming to the
United States, he obtained two Master"s degrees, in
Molecular Genetics and Adult Education, from San Francisco
State University, and a teaching credential. He teaches
biology at Balboa High School in San Francisco.
- Carolyn Patty Blum, one of the lawyers on the case. She
teaches at Columbia University Law School and is senior
legal adviser at the .
Sen. Leahy on Bush's Judicial Nominees: You Can't
"Make The Judiciary An Arm Of The Republican Party"
As the battle over President Bush's judicial nominees reopens
in the Senate, we speak with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT),
the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We also
talk to him about restoring ties to the Indonesian military
and 48 towns in Vermont that voted yesterday against war,
calling for the Vermont National Guard be brought home.
The battle over President Bush's judicial nominees reopened
in the Senate yesterday. For the second time in two years,
appellate court nominee William Myers faced questions from
the Judiciary Committee yesterday about his record as the
Interior Department's top lawyer and a lobbyist for mining
and cattle interests.
The impasse over judges is one of the most explosive issues
facing the 109th Congress, and Myers is the year's first test
case. He is one of seven appellate court nominees blocked
by Democratic filibusters in Bush's first term but resubmitted
by the president this year. Three other blocked nominees were
withdrawn
- Sen. Patrick Leahy
(D-Vermont), he is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee. He joins us on the line from Virginia.
48 Vermont Towns Vote Against Iraq War, Call for
State's National Guard to Come Home
In Vermont, 48 town meetings voted last night to condemn
the war in Iraq and to call on political leaders to bring
home the state's National Guard. We speak with an organizer
with the Iraq Resolution Campaign that coordinated the town
meetings. [includes rush
transcript]
In Vermont, 48 town meetings voted last night to condemn
the war in Iraq and to call on political leaders to bring
home the state's National Guard.
Vermont has lost more soldiers per capita than any state,
and has the second highest mobilization rate for its National
Guard and reservists.
- Ben Scotch, retired attorney in Vermont and organizer
of the Iraq
Resolution Campaign. The resolution was approved last
night by 48 town meetings across Vermont.
Supreme Court Abolishes Death Penalty For Juveniles
in Landmark Ruling
In a landmark decision on the death penalty, the Supreme
Court abolished the execution of juveniles. We speak with
a mother whose son was executed for an offense he committed
when he was 17 and the sister of a murder victim who now campaigns
against the death penalty, as well as the coordinator for
the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
In a 5 to 4 ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court abolished
the death penalty for juveniles. The historic decision came
in the Roper V. Simmons case out of Missouri which involved
Christopher Simmons, who was 17 in 1993 when he tied up a
woman and threw her from a bridge to her death. The Supreme
Court decision overturned his death sentence declaring that
the execution of juveniles violates the Eighth amendment's
ban on cruel and unusual punishment. This decision could affect
more than 70 death-row inmates who face execution for murders
done when they were 16 or 17 years old. Justice Kennedy wrote
the opinion for the majority. Chief Justice William Rehnquist
and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Clarence
Thomas dissented.
In an unusual move, the Supreme Court ruling cited the "overwhelming
weight of international opinion" in banning executions
of those under 18. Justice Kennedy, noted that the U.S was
the only country in the world that still officially permitted
the execution of juveniles. He wrote that since 1990, only
seven countries have executed persons under 18. They are Iran,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic
of Congo and China. However, all of these countries have since
publicly disavowed the practice. Justice Kennedy also noted
that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which
prohibits the juvenile death penalty, has been ratified by
every country except Somalia and the United States.
But fellow justice Antonin Scalia assailed Kennedy's argument.
Scalia took the unusual step of reading his 24-page dissent
from the bench. He accused the court of "proclaiming
itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards."
Scalia disputed the notion that a national consensus on the
juvenile death penalty has emerged and warned about taking
into account international opinion.
Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice
Clarence Thomas signed onto Scalia's dissent. Justice Sandra
O'Connor issued a separate dissenting argument.
- Rena Beazley, her son, Napolean Beazley was executed
when he was 25 in Texas in 2002. He was 17 years old at
the time of his offense and had no prior criminal history.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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