Hatha Sunahara
17th March 2013, 11:18 AM
I watched the first hour of Rand Paul's filibuster on the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA chief, and what percolated in my mind were the terms Secret Laws and Star Chambers. Both of these ideas are foreign to American tradition and thinking until very recently. Secret laws are the signature of totalitarian dictatorships such as Hitler's and those in the Communist eastern European countries during the existence of the Soviet Union. We have them here now in the United States as part of the Patriot Act. Here's a reference to secret laws:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_law
And then more recently, and the direct subject of Rand Paul's filibuster, although he did not use the term is Star Chamber. Here is a Wikipedia description of the Star Chamber:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_chamberThe Star Chamber (Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin): Camera stellata) was an English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_England) court of law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_law) that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster) until 1641. It was made up of Privy Councillors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_Council_of_England), as well as common-law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law) judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_equity) in both civil and criminal matters. The court was set up to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against prominent people, those so powerful that ordinary courts could never convict them of their crimes. Court sessions were held in secret (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_trial), with no indictments (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictments), and no witnesses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness). Evidence was presented in writing. Over time it evolved into a political weapon, a symbol of the misuse and abuse of power by the English monarchy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_monarchy) and courts.
In modern usage, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings and secretive proceedings are sometimes called, metaphorically or poetically, star chambers. This is a pejorative term and intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the proceedings. The inherent lack of objectivity of politically motivated charges has led to substantial reforms in English law in most jurisdictions since that time.
It appears that Messrs Obama and Holder have reinstated the Star Chamber with their Drone policy.
Isn't there some prohibition of Secret Laws and Star Chambers? Or are our elected officials just ignoring those prohibitions, just like they ignore the restraints placed on them by the constitution?
Hatha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_law
And then more recently, and the direct subject of Rand Paul's filibuster, although he did not use the term is Star Chamber. Here is a Wikipedia description of the Star Chamber:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_chamberThe Star Chamber (Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin): Camera stellata) was an English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_England) court of law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_law) that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster) until 1641. It was made up of Privy Councillors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_Council_of_England), as well as common-law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law) judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_equity) in both civil and criminal matters. The court was set up to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against prominent people, those so powerful that ordinary courts could never convict them of their crimes. Court sessions were held in secret (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_trial), with no indictments (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictments), and no witnesses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness). Evidence was presented in writing. Over time it evolved into a political weapon, a symbol of the misuse and abuse of power by the English monarchy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_monarchy) and courts.
In modern usage, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings and secretive proceedings are sometimes called, metaphorically or poetically, star chambers. This is a pejorative term and intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the proceedings. The inherent lack of objectivity of politically motivated charges has led to substantial reforms in English law in most jurisdictions since that time.
It appears that Messrs Obama and Holder have reinstated the Star Chamber with their Drone policy.
Isn't there some prohibition of Secret Laws and Star Chambers? Or are our elected officials just ignoring those prohibitions, just like they ignore the restraints placed on them by the constitution?
Hatha