U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin supports closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, but wants to see the legal rationale for President Obama doing so without going through Congress.
There have been hints Obama will try to close the detention center by executive action, but the new defense bill passed by Congress, and signed by Obama, includes a provision banning detainees from the camp from being transferred to the United States.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) voted for the bill despite being opposed to the provision, arguing similar prisoners are currently being held on U.S. soil, even in Illinois.
In 2009, the Obama administration had plans to buy the state prison in Thomson, Illinois to house Guantanamo detainees. Durbin points out that’s no longer possible, as the final sale to the federal government specifically prohibits the facility from receiving anyone held at Guantanamo.
In other State news, the University of Illinois Springfield-based Illinois Innocence Project will still work on every wrongful conviction that comes in, but now there is a special focus on one group of the populated affected by wrongful convictions more than others.
The Illinois Innocence Project is starting a Latino innocence initiative.
Federal grant money will pay for the initiative, including the hiring of two bi-lingual attorneys — one based in Chicago, the other in Springfield.
