The ACLU is working with the Boston bomb suspect’s counsel to define torture down.
In documents filed last week, the ACLU stated it planned to fight for the accused 20-year-old terrorist’s right to access to his attorneys and information his lawyers claim is critical to defending him against a potential death sentence, calling it “no trifling matter” that in the ACLU’s view Tsarnaev’s Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial was being threatened by the conditions of his solitary confinement at the federal lockup at Fort Devens.
The former UMass Dartmouth student’s taxpayer-funded counsel will go before O’Toole tomorrow to argue for vacating what they deem “extraordinary and severe” restrictions they liken to “torture,” including that Tsarnaev is denied TV and radio, family photos, prayer with other inmates and visitation from anyone other than his lawyers and immediate family.
What they’re calling “torture” used to just be called “prison.”
The judge in this case, George W. O’Toole, isn’t buying the “torture” accusation. He tossed the ACLU’s memo out of the case record.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member