Senate Rejects Amendment on Second-Class System of Justice

Great news! Yesterday at 6:24 PM the Senate voted against an amendment that would have compelled all Guantanamo detainees suspected of participating in the attacks of September 11, 2001 to be tried by military commission. If this amendment had passed, it would have delayed the closing of the Guantanamo prison and would have prevented Guantanamo detainees from being prosecuted fairly in U.S. civilian courts. With a 54-45 vote, the Senate voted against the amendment.

Thank you to those of you who called your Senators yesterday and the day before, for speaking out against military commissions as a second-class system of justice. Thanks to your efforts, Congress and the Obama administration still have the opportunity to shut down the Guantanamo prison, which has become an international symbol of torture and human rights abuses.

Looking for more information? For a news release by the ACLU on this amendment, please click here.