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Justice Dept. Investigating E-Mails About Lindh
Wednesday, July 10, 2002
(2:31 PM ET)
By Deborah Charles
Reuters

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating how internal e-mails discussing the legality of questioning John Walker Lindh following his capture in Afghanistan were leaked to the media, court documents show. In a filing to the District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, made public on July 10, 2002, U.S. prosecutors told a federal judge the Justice Department's Inspector General was in the process of investigating whether documents ordered protected by the court had been improperly disclosed..
Image Credit: Reuters.

The defense has said U.S. interrogators failed to read Lindh his Miranda rights -- a bedrock of the U.S. legal system which requires suspects be told they have the right to an attorney and to remain silent. Lindh's attorneys also said Lindh was unfairly questioned without a lawyer although interrogators knew Lindh's parents had hired an attorney.

WASHINGTON -- Reuters
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating how internal e-mails discussing the legality of questioning John Walker Lindh following his capture in Afghanistan were leaked to the media, court documents show.

In a filing to the District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, made public on Wednesday, U.S. prosecutors told a federal judge the Justice Department's Inspector General was in the process of investigating whether documents ordered protected by the court had been improperly disclosed.

The prosecutors said the Inspector General was still conducting the review and they would advise District Judge T.S. Ellis when it was completed.

Last month Ellis ordered the prosecution to explain to the court how an e-mail exchange between Justice Department lawyers was leaked to Newsweek magazine. He wanted to know whether anyone involved in the Lindh case violated his orders on protected documents.
(More: iWon.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Well, the Miranda Act is not as “bedrock” as Reuters would have the public believe, being really nothing more than a list of rights. It has even been called before the Supreme court in recent years to discuss discontinuing the practice of reading the Act. Of course this was during the “O, so lawful” years of the Clinton administration, the argument being that intelligent people in the United States are well aware of the their rights (as displayed daily ad infinitum on TV cop-"drama" shows since the 1950s), and a recitation of them should not be a requirement.

So, using this logic, perhaps Lindh is just stupid.

Go figure...
Dan