National Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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Specter Objects to GOP Agreement on Suspects

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said yesterday he has a problem with the Republican agreement on rules for the interrogation and trial of suspects in the war on terror. President Bush is pushing Congress to put the agreement into law before adjourning for the midterm elections, but Senator Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania, said yesterday that he “vigorously” disagrees with the habeas corpus provision of the bill. The provision would allow legal counsel and a day in court to only those detainees selected by the Pentagon for prosecution. Other terror suspects could be held indefinitely without a hearing. “The courts have traditionally been open to make sure that individual rights are protected, and that is fundamental,” Mr. Specter said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “And the Constitution says when you can suspend the writ of habeas corpus, in time of rebellion or invasion. And we don’t have either. So that has to be changed, in my opinion.”

— Associated Press

McCain Names Measures Detainee Bill Would Bar

WASHINGTON — Senator McCain, a Republican of Arizona, named three measures that he said would no longer be allowed under a provision barring techniques that cause serious mental or physical suffering byAmerica’s detainees: extreme sleep deprivation, forced hypothermia, and “waterboarding,” which simulates drowning. He also said other “extreme measures” would be banned. Mr. McCain’s remarks were unusual because public officials involved in the lengthy public debate about American interrogation practices have rarely made specific references to the CIA’s actions, choosing instead to make general claims about the need for rough interrogations or a desire to stop abusive behavior.

— The Washington Post

Utah Supreme Court Set To Hear Appeal In Elizabeth Smart Case

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal on whether a woman accused in the 2002 abduction of then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart may be forcibly medicated in the hope that she may become mentally fit to stand trial. Wanda Barzee’s attorneys contend a decision allowing the Utah State Hospital to forcibly medicate their client was wrong because the situation did not meet the criteria set by the U.S. Supreme Court, including that the medication was substantially likely to restore Ms. Barzee’s competency.

— Associated Press

Children Found Stuffed In Washer and Dryer Drowned, Autopsy Says

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and her fetus told police she drowned the woman’s three young children and stuffed them into a washer and dryer at their apartment, an official said yesterday. The bodies of the children, ages 7, 2, and 1,were found Saturday decomposing inside the washer and dryer of their apartment. Autopsies yesterday showed no signs of physical abuse or trauma on the children, and toxicology tests were pending “to see if they were poisoned or possibly drugged,” a deputy St. Clair County coroner, Ace Hart, said. “They were not drowned there in the wash machine,” Mr. Hart stressed. Saturday night’s discovery came two days after the mother of the children, Jimella Tunstall, 23, was found in a weedy lot, her abdomen torn open and the fetus missing. Tiffany Hall, 24, a family friend, was charged Saturday afternoon with killing Tunstall and her fetus.

— Associated Press

Farrakhan Says He Is Seriously Ill

CHICAGO — Minister Louis Farrakhan said in a letter to followers this month that he is seriously ill, and he asked the Nation of Islam’s leaders to carry on in his absence to make sure the movement “will live long after I and we have gone.” Minister Farrakhan, 73, said he began suffering pain earlier this year similar to 1998, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent surgery. He said doctors discovered an ulcer in his anal area during a visit to Cuba in March. Since then, he has dropped more than 20 pounds while battling “serious infection and inflammation,” Minister Farrakhan said in a letter published in the Nation of Islam’s The Final Call newspaper.

— Associated Press

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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