Unclear on the concept
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Yet, today:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Bush administration to keep secret all documents in the case of a Middle Eastern man detained for immigration violations after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
In keeping with its record of declining to hear cases challenging the government’s secrecy rules in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, the court rejected without comment the appeal of a man, identified only by the initials “M.K.B.”
The man’s lawyers contended the secrecy was unconstitutional. They said even the docket, or summary, of the proceedings had been sealed by a federal judge and a U.S. appeals court that considered his challenge to the detention.
