By Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 30 2011
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was created to serve as an independent body which wouldoversee U.S. ‘counter-terrorism policies’.
That almost sounds decent. Except for one catch: The board is effectively non-existent, since no membershave been nominated and confirmed.
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) study released in November traced the Board’s virtual non-being,from its non-start as a mere 9/11 Commission recommendation through its first non-establishment as anExecutive Branch agency to the 2007 statute which–if only on paper–recreated the Board as an independentpanel.
The Oversight Board was to fulfill two principal actions:
1.) It was to “analyze and review actions the executive branch takes to protect the Nation from terrorism, ensuring that the need for such actions is balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties”
2.) It was supposed to “ensure that liberty concerns are appropriately considered in the development and implementation of laws, regulations, and policies related to efforts to protect the Nation against terrorism.”
Thus if the Board had been functional, it may have provided an independent judgment on such matters as thepropriety of military detention. But since no actual members have been appointed, there really is no Board.
Last January, Obama nominated James Dempsey and Elisebeth Cook to serve as panel members. TheDemocratic-run Senate has not considered either nomination.
Even if the Senate does eventually confirm Dempsey and Cook, the two will not make a quorum. The presidentmust nominate additional Board members, and the Senate must actually confirm them. And that’s apparentlynot going to happen anytime soon.
