An egregious violation of due process

As The Post reported [“Congress sends $662 billion defense measure to president,” news story, Dec. 16], Congress sent the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to President Obama with provisions making possible the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens suspected of terrorist activities, without due process, in instances authorized by the president. Congress’s creation of this legislation and the president’s decision not to veto it represent severe breaches of their constitutional and moral responsibilities.   

Since 2001, tremendous power has been abdicated by Congress and transferred by default to the executive branch. While presidents since Harry Truman have asserted war powers granted specifically to Congress, never before has so much power rested in the hands of the president. Instead of scaling back the prior administration’s growing hegemony on foreign policy, the Obama administration has expanded executive power, and the indefinite detention of American citizens possible under the NDAA is the worst offense yet, violating our most basic values.  

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If citizens can be detained indefinitely without access to the evidence against them or legal representation against that evidence, what rights remain sacred? Congress has yielded the last vestiges of its legitimacy by crafting this legislation, and the president has reached beyond the scope of his office by accepting it. 

Stephen B. Long, Richmond