Wow... It Gets WAAAY Worse... 'Whom Can The President Kill ?' - TheNewYorker (We Are Now Nixon)

[WillyT]

13. Apparently Not...

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The white paper contradicts the ACLU, which tried to challenge the government’s authority to kill US citizens suspected of terrorism through targeted killings away from the battlefield through its case, Al-Aulaqi v. Obama. It argued that Anwar Al-Awlaki deserved to be put on notice that he was placed on a “kill list” and be informed of the criteria that led to his placement, as he had not been convicted or charged with a crime:

The government’s refusal to disclose the standard by which it determines to target U.S. citizens for death independently violates the Constitution: U.S. citizens have a right to know what conduct may subject them to execution at the hands of their own government. Due process requires, at a minimum, that citizens be put on notice of what may cause them to be put to death by the state.

It outlines how due process and the Fourth Amendment would not apply by stating, “We recognize that there is no private interest more weighty than a person’s interest in his life. But that interest must be balanced against the United States’ interest in forestalling the threat of violence and death to other Americans that arises from an individual who is a senior operational leader of al Qaida or an associated force of al Qaida and who is engaged in plotting against the United States.”

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From: http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/02/05/the-legal-basis-obama-administration-officials-use-on-terror-tuesdays-to-authorize-targeted-killings/