Robyn Blumner

Robyn Blumner writes for the St. Petersburg Times.

Guantánamo Deaths Deserve a Closer Look

Did three detainees at Guantánamo die of suicide or homicide? According to the Pentagon, three Guantánamo prisoners hung themselves in their individual cells on the night of June 9, 2006, in order to commit an act of "asymmetrical warfare." But that official account is riddled with gaping holes and is challenged by an alternative explanation … Continue reading “Guantánamo Deaths Deserve a Closer Look”

Obama Undeserving of Civil Liberties Accolades

At the end of each year I typically award the "Freeby" to the person who has done the most in the service of civil liberties. As dusk fell on 2008 and the reign-of-error Bush administration was packing up its jackhammers, I felt then that I could have written ahead to December 2009, giving the Freeby … Continue reading “Obama Undeserving of Civil Liberties Accolades”

Uighurs Deserve Legal Remedy

Ubi jus ibi remedium. Probably nothing turns readers off more than starting a column with some incomprehensible Latin phrase. But this one’s relevant. It means: Where there is a right, there is a remedy. When a legal wrong has been done, the courts should be able to order some kind of relief, otherwise what good … Continue reading “Uighurs Deserve Legal Remedy”

A Golden Opportunity to Declaw PATRIOT Act

You remember the USA PATRIOT Act, don’t you? It was that 342-page bill that sped through a supplicant Congress within weeks of 9/11, dismantling our privacy rights like a castoff Hollywood set. A reauthorization in 2006 made some things better and some worse, but mostly the law stayed the same – really bad for American … Continue reading “A Golden Opportunity to Declaw PATRIOT Act”

Confront Our Own Torturers

Let’s see, a U.S. court successfully convicted the son of the brutal former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, of torturing his father’s political opponents. But we’re going to leave it to a Spanish judge to go after our own Torquemadas? A Spanish court has targeted former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as well former Justice Department … Continue reading “Confront Our Own Torturers”