"Misprision of a Felony"-Rumsfeld Knew His Guys Were Torturing People to Death

[kpete]

It's Called
"Misprision of a Felony"
(And it's a felony too.)


Rumsfeld Knew His Guys Were Torturing People to Death, Which Is a Serious Crime
By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real. Posted February 13, 2009.

71% of Americans want to see Bush administration investigated
http://www.examiner.com/x-1172-Birmingham-Progressive-Politics-Examiner~y2009m2d13-71-of-Americans-want-to-see-Bush-administration-investigated

..........................

Just yesterday the ACLU got it's hands on a truly smoking gun memo written for then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. This document informed Rumsfeld that those he'd tasked with beating information out of suspected terrorists had not just tortured them, but tortured some of them, to death. In other words, they murdered them.
http://www.aclu.org/images/torture/asset_upload_file293_38710.pdf

If Rumsfeld had been, say, some local police captain in charge of these guys, this document would make him – at very least – accessory-after-the-fact to murder. He not only conspired to keep this evidence secret, but did not report this as the crime it is, nor order the perpetrators arrested, charged and put on trial.

There's a legal name for this crime: “Misprison of a Felony.” Defined here as:

“The failure to perform a public duty...Misprision is a versatile word that can denote a number of offenses. It can refer to the improper performance of an official duty...The most familiar and popular use of the term misprision describes the failure to report a crime....The first Congress passed a misprision of felony statute in 1789. The statute holds, "Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony … conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States" is guilty of misprision of felony and can be punished with up to three years in prison.

Under the federal statute, the prosecution must prove the following elements to obtain a misprision of felony conviction:

(1)another person actually committed a felony;

(2)the defendant knew that the felony was committed;

(3)the defendant did not notify any law enforcement or judicial officer; and

(4)the defendant took affirmative steps to conceal the felony.”

As for Rumsfeld, this document, the crimes it describes, and the available evidence indicate that, were he charged for misprison of a felony, he would be found; guilty on each count.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/126904/rumsfeld_knew_his_guys_were_torturing_people_to_death%2C_which_is_a_serious_crime/

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[pleah]

2. K&R I still waiting for the prosecutions of these criminals to start.

I wonder if they will actually do the will of the people?

[Rick Myers]

3. k and r

Keep Gitmo open. For Cheney, Bush and Rummy...

[Demeter]

4. So What Are We Waiting For? Let's Roll!

[Geoff R. Casavant]

5. It's that #4 that potentially keeps my ass out of jail.

It's pretty well impossible for an attorney to represent a client accused of a crime if the attorney must report what he knows. But even an attorney can't help his client by destroying evidence.

[DCKit]

6. Kick.

Can we put the MSM talking heads on trial too? They devoted countless hours over the past seven years enabling these crimes.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Anytime you saw a briefing on C-Span with Rumsfeld, the "journalists" sat there,

like dogs watching tv, gaping at him, laughing heartily at his idiotic attempts at wit, while he babbled, postured, strutted around his podium, acting as if they were thrilled to be in the presence of such an exalted personality.

It was absolutely appalling. I NEVER heard even one of them ask anything approaching a serious question. They acted as if they were star-struck teenagers, feeling not nearly important enough to speak directly to him.

They could not have sucked up to him more in a million years. You bet they should be tried, as well. I'm still furious.

Luckily, they have rallied, and are ready to tear into Obama spokesmen/women, ready to make amends for 8 years of foolishly, deliberately lost time.

http://www.jwz.org.nyud.net:8090/images/mdf281667.jpg

[bleever]

7. Rumsfeld's estate is named "Mt. Misery", and it's time to give that name fresh meaning.

Rumsfeld and a mountain of misery

By AMY GOODMAN
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, began life as a slave on Maryland's Eastern Shore. When his owner had trouble with the young, unruly slave, Douglass was sent to Edward Covey, a notorious "slave breaker." Covey's plantation, where physical and psychological torture were standard, was called Mount Misery. Douglass eventually fought back, escaped to the North and went on to change the world. Today Mount Misery is owned by Donald Rumsfeld, the outgoing secretary of defense.

It is ironic that this notorious plantation run by a practiced torturer would now be owned by Rumsfeld, himself accused as the man principally responsible for the U.S. military's program of torture and detention.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/293201_amy22.html

Either we enforce justice on his monstrous crimes, or we accept them as a part of our own selves.

[GuvWurld]

8. Congress is also guilty of misprision

for failure to impeach fascist war criminals

[ThomWV]

10. Problem: Number 3, how do we know Rummy did not notify Gonzo?

If Rummy notified Gonzo he's off the hook.