Rumsfeld Will Answer: Court Green-Lights Torture Suit Against Former SecDef

[Tiassa]

Serve Your Country, and It Will Serve You

A U.S. District Court has given the green light to a torture lawsuit brought against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The Pentagon Poet has thus far ducked any legal blowback for policies executed on his watch by simple invocations of qualified immunity. Judge James Gwinn, however, swept that aside.

The individual known as John Doe had been working as a civilian translator for U.S. Marine Corps intelligence-gathering efforts in 2005. For reasons that are not immediately obvious, but which presumably related to suspicions about dual loyalties, investigators seized Doe and tossed him into jail at Camp Cropper for nine months. There, he claims, guards...

exposed him to extreme cold and continuous artificial light, blindfolded and hooded him, woke him by banging on a door or slamming a window whenever they observed Doe trying to sleep, and blasted heavy metal or country music into his cell at intolerable volumes.​

Doe was eventually cut loose without being charged with a crime, but he reportedly remains on a U.S. government watch list.

(Doyle)​

John Doe not only worked for the USMC as a civilian translator, but also is an American citizen and honorably discharged U.S. Army veteran.

Serve your country, and it will serve you.
____________________

Notes:

Doyle, Mike. "U.S. citizen and Army vet claims U.S. tortured him in Iraq". Suits & Sentences. August 3, 2011. Blogs.McClatchyDC.com. August 4, 2011. http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/law/2011/08/us-citizen-and-army-vet-claims-us-tortured-him-in-iraq.html

 

[adoucette]

Not really, the Judge simply didn't dismiss the suit outright.

Which isn't that surprising since:

In deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), “a court should assume the[] veracity” of “well-pleaded factual allegations,” and construe reasonable inferences drawn from those factual allegations in the plaintiff’s favor.

In other words, his case was "well-pleaded" and so the court ASSUMES the veracity of his allegations.

Of course the suit is just to get some money....

Doe asks this Court to hold Rumsfeld personally liable by allowing a money damages remedy under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), for these alleged constitutional violations.
Doe also sues Defendants Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alan Bersin, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, and John Morton, Assistant Secretary of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement,

 

[chimpkin]

So he wants financial compensation...for one I don't see a problem with him being financially compensated, for two, civil suit rules of evidence aren't as strict, so he might have a better chance of winning his judgement.

I would like to see a judgement against Rummy. So, hey, cheers.

 

[CptBork]

So he wants financial compensation...for one I don't see a problem with him being financially compensated, for two, civil suit rules of evidence aren't as strict, so he might have a better chance of winning his judgement.

I would like to see a judgement against Rummy. So, hey, cheers.

Perhaps they should consider a class action lawsuit for all the victims together, rather than everyone going up against the system as individuals. Does administrative immunity even apply when the oaths of office are sworn in dishonesty?

 

[cosmictraveler]

It seems that no matter what the outcome is the President will overturn any convictions if any are handed down so , to me, all this is just a big waste of time and money once again.

 

[Michael]

Of course Obama will overturn/pardon any and all convictions.

"It's time we move on and not seek justice for the crimes of the past administrations (or future)."
- Obama 2010

 

[chimpkin]

Of course Obama will overturn/pardon any and all convictions.

"It's time we move on and not seek justice for the crimes of the past administrations (or future)."
- Obama 2010

:splat:

Yeah, because moving on is SOOOO frakking helpful...keeps our political process so refreshingly honest and holds people to account so well!

 

[spidergoat]

I doubt there will be any conviction about this, where is the evidence? Probably all classified.

 

[murdoch]

The court(judge) should personally visit the torture site and try to collect evidence material under it's own supervision and to trial all the persons responsible for wrongs committed over all the innocent individuals.