NACDL Statement on AG Holder’s Remarks on the U.S.
Government’s Secret ‘Execution Before Judgment’ Program
Washington, DC (March 5, 2012) – The American people are entitled to
clear notice and detail concerning precisely what kind of due process there is
to impose capital punishment on U.S. citizens in the absence of judicial review
or, indeed, any independent reviewing body. Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech
today at Northwestern University School of Law appeared to detail the
decision-making principles involved in the government’s secret program
targeting U.S. citizens for extra-judicial killing. Last fall, the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) filed a Freedom of Information
Act request
seeking the legal memoranda justifying the targeting of Americans overseas with
lethal force and the role the Department of Justice plays in extrajudicial executions.
The request is still outstanding and today’s presentation by the Attorney
General at Northwestern does not satisfy that request. We hope that now that
Attorney General Holder has publicly discussed the extra-judicial targeting of
American citizens, the Department of Justice will release the legal
justifications and processes in their entirety.
Contact: Ivan Dominguez, Deputy Director of Public Affairs & Communications, (202) 465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org.