Hawaii Senators Cast Conflicting Votes on Indefinite Detention

Mark Quezada/Civil Beat

WASHINGTON — Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye recently found themselves on opposite sides of controversial votes on how the United States should handle the detention of terrorism suspects, including American citizens.

The split occurred last week when the Senate had to vote on proposed amendments to the Defense Authorization Act, a major spending bill.

One amendment would have scrapped provisions that allow the government to indefinitely hold terror suspects without charge or trial, including those arrested in the United States. The other sought to clarify existing laws about detaining terror suspects so that only those captured outside of the United States could be held indefinitely. (Read opposing views from senators here and here.)

At the center of the debate is the question of whether accusing citizens of being terrorists gives the government the authority to hold them indefinitely without trial.

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