Rep. Bart Stupak [D-Mich.] has reconsidered earlier legislation that would have given several acres of Coast Guard property in Cheboygan [Mich.] to a Christian school free of charge after constitutional law scholars pointed out that the land transfer would violate the First Amendment separation between church and state.

After Michigan Messenger reported on this issue in August, Americans United for Separation of Church and State contacted Stupak’s office and informed them that the legislation as written was unconstitutional.

Last week, Stupak, a Democrat from Menominee, wrote to the group and told them that he was changing the bill to require that the property be sold to the school at fair market value as required by law.

“They’ve made it really clear that the president right now is not supportive of a public commission of inquiry,” Killmer said in a phone conversation this morning.

Killmer has had better luck in Congress, where at least some Representatives support creating a House Select Committee to investigate torture. Although that would be more political than an independent commission, he said, at least it’s something. “There are a significant number of members of the House who know this isn’t done,” says Killmer, whose group has had more than 60 meetings with House members on the issue since June.

The religious campaign has made some headway on related issues, working with Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), chair of the House Select Intelligence Oversight panel, to convince Congress to pass a bill that would require the taping of all interrogations of detainees in U.S. military custody. The House passed the bill last week as part of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act. It could be voted on by the full Congress next week.”Our constituents understand the need for videotaping interrogations,” says Kilmer, “and the videotapes have to be protected so they’re an ongoing part of our history. It’s one way of making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The religious groups also hope to achieve a codification of the terms of President Obama’s executive order mandating that all interrogations follow the rules of the Army Field Manual, and that the U.S. basically follows the “Golden Rule” when it comes to interrogations: we don’t do to others what we wouldn’t want them to do to our soldiers.

Still, Killmer said, codifying this for the future isn’t enough. After all, we had a Convention Against Torture and that still didn’t stop the U.S. government from torturing people.

In addition to a commission that would expose everything that happened and why, Killmer and other religious leaders are exploring the possibility of asking the government for an apology.”I think it’s extremely important,” says Killmer. Other countries have taken that step, such as Canada, which apologized — and paid $10 million – to Canadian citizen Maher Arar who, with the help of bad intelligence from Canada, was sent by U.S. authorities to Syria for interrogation under torture.

“This was wrong behavior,” says Killmer of the entire U.S. “enhanced interrogation” practice. And an apology “would help grow the moral consensus that torture is wrong,” he says, something he assumed existed before 2001, but now isn’t sure.

“Dick Cheney gets more credence than I would have imagined,” says Killmer. “The American people are still wrestling with this stuff.”

Killmer and his colleagues were dismayed when a Pew Research Center poll last spring found that a majority of Catholics and even evangelicals believe that torture is sometimes necessary. “That says we have a lot to do,” says Killmer. His group has put together this short interfaith video on U.S.-sponsored torture which they plan to show at churches, synagogues and mosques across the country, in part to explain that yes, torture really is a violation of all the dominant religions in the United States, and to encourage believers to join the anti-torture campaign.

Whether religious support is ever going to be strong enough to get that official apology is another matter. Although the U.S. has apologized for some things in the past — the Japanese internment during WWII, and slavery — in both cases, it came many decades after the deed. Killmer is cautiously hopeful: “It would be terrific if this could happen much more quickly.”

At the heart of this issue is whether or not diverse populations are given a fair shot at representing their legitimate political interests in Congress, either as interns, as staff or as Members.  The climate in Congress is clearly not as conducive as it should be in encouraging democratic representation, as exemplified by recent fear-rousing antics.As a result of the innumerous obstacles facing Muslim-Americans in this post-9/11 environment, their political participation is stifled and often stymied.  More channels for Muslim participation are sorely needed, as well as a friendlier climate that embraces, not discourages, diversity.   These fallacious allegations implicate the existence of a society still struggling with anti-Muslim sentiment.  My Muslim colleagues in the House of Representatives, along with the highly qualified, patriotic and committed Muslim staffers and interns that have worked with my office and with CAPAC, contribute mightily to our democratic process. Any slander against these fellow patriots is slander against democracy and religious freedom.

Immigrants, including veterans fighting deportation, will speak at the event, as will Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who, with House and Senate allies, will set out key principles of a comprehensive immigration reform bill he plans to introduce later this fall. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus Member Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) are also expected to speak at the event.

The rally is being organized by an immigrants’ advocacy coalition called Reform Immigration for America.

Although CCR has been representing al Qahtani for years, since at least October 2006, when he filed his petition for habeas corpus with the federal court, the government never disclosed the existence of these videotapes, CCR said today, although they should have been turned over as potentially exculpatory evidence.

The videotapes, which a judge has ordered the government to produce, are expected to reveal al Qahtani’s condition toward the end of three months of intensive solitary confinement and isolation just before the special interrogation plan was implemented. In a letter to his superiors, FBI Deputy Assistant Director T.J. Harrington described al Qahtani at the time as “evidencing behavior consistent with extreme psychological trauma (talking to non-existent people, reportedly hearing voices, crouching in a corner of the cell covered with a sheet for hours on end).” Harrington was reporting on the possible abuse of men in U.S. custody.

The interrogation of al Qahtani included severe sleep deprivation, isolation, sexual humiliation, prolonged exposure to hot and cold and threats to him and his family.

The government has alleged that al Qahtani intended to participate in the 9/11 attacks, but although the other alleged 9/11 co-conspirators have all been charged by the military commissions, the Convening Authority of the military commissions dismissed the charges against al Qahtani last year. She has also said that he was tortured.

Back in April, I reported on the Attorney General Guidelines issued by the Bush administration just as it was leaving office, in December. They gave the FBI unprecedented powers to investigate people without any reason to believe they’re engaged in wrongdoing. Then last Friday, in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Justice Department released a heavily redacted version of its Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), an internal policy document that explains how FBI agents would implement the Attorney General Guidelines.

As the ACLU noted earlier this week, the operations guide actually allows the FBI to violate the Attorney General Guidelines without approve from, or notice to, the Attorney General.

“It sets an extremely confusing and dangerous precedent to create an ambiguous set of guidelines for invasive surveillance of Americans and then grant the FBI the authority to violate those guidelines unilaterally,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, in a statement released Tuesday. “We remain concerned that the Mukasey Guidelines were written so broadly that they imposed essentially no restrictions at all on FBI investigations, and now we see the FBI has interpreted them in exactly the same way. Congress needs to create a statutory framework that limits the FBI’s authority to conduct investigations without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing as soon as possible.”

The guidelines are raising particular concerns among Muslim civil rights groups who fear they allow FBI agents to sent informants into mosques to spy on their members. “The concern many feel is over attending mosque services for the fear the FBI might be looking over their shoulder.” Farhanda Khera of Muslim Advocates, which also sued to obtain the guidelines, told Josh Gerstein at Politico.

“Lately,” said Perry, “I’ve found myself going back to a book that’s titled ‘The 5000 Year Leap.’”

There were head nods and noises of approval from many members of the audience. That book, written by the late ultra-conservative scholar-cum-conspiracy theorists Cleon Skousen, had been rescued from 28 years of obscurity by Glenn Beck. Perry gave an accurate summary of its content, telling the audiences that Skousen “shares his views of the foundational elements of our nation, placing a special emphasis in faith in God–I think undeniably a source of America’s remarkable success. He asserts that natural law, God’s law, is the basis of our nation’s laws.”

It’s worth pointing out how surprising this is.

Skousen, as Alexander Zaitchek wrote last week, was a scholar-turned-conspiracy theorist whose “The 5,000 Year Leap” re-packages Mormon ethics into an argument that the founding fathers were inspired by 28 “fundamental” and divine beliefs in the creation of America.

Perry’s comments reminded me of a forgotten moment from the 2008 campaign, when Mitt Romney got into a heated exchange with a radio host who had theological objections to Mormonism. A grainy video of that exchange is here.

“Cleon Skousen has a book called ‘A Thousand Years,’” said Romney, arguing against the rumor that he believed the Second Coming would happen in Missouri. “Christ appears, it’s throughout the Bible, Christ appears in Jerusalem, splits the Mount of Olives to stop the war that’s coming to kill all the Jews. Our church believes that.”

It’s strange to hear prominent national Republicans telling people to read Skousen. Here’s a short video introduction to the man.

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“Carrie is going to obey, I think, the most frequently repeated command in the Bible,” said Gallagher. “Be not afraid. God bless you, Carrie.”

“Thank you for thousands of Americans who have believed in me, who have supported me, who have been in this fight with me,” said Prejean. “I cannot thank you enough.” Rightwingwatch has video, and there’s more after the jump.

There was huge applause, and then Prejean got to topic of her speech: Herself. Some highlights:

- “I’m sure a lot of you have seen me on the news and heard me in interviews.”

- “As I entered into the pageantry world, I was raised as a total athlete. I was a complete jock. I played four sports. I was a varsity basketball starter.”

- “I entered into the pageant, and from there, I just became so successful with it. And anything that I put my mind to, and anything I was determined to do.”

- “I always saw pageants as doing better for the world.”

- “I never thought that I would be up on a stage representing, you know, the state of California.”

- “I even had an accent-modification coach, because some people said I sounded like I was from the midwest. I guess I say my Os funny.”

- “I felt very proud of who I had become.”

- “You can be an athlete and be feminine at the same time.”

After much of this, Prejean finally told the story of the fateful pageant night. “In my head,” she said, “I could not believe that they were asking that question at Miss USA. I thought it was extremely inappropriate for that venue.” The crowd rose up with applause. “In my head, I was asking: ‘God, why are they asking this question?’”

From there, Prejean told the story of the backlash as the packed ballroom listened raptly.

“I don’t know why chose to attack my mother, my father, my 90-year old grandmother, on a daily basis,” said Prejean. “There was something wrong with turning on the TV and seeing people mock me for my faith.”

Prejean turned on the heat from there. “I am disgusted with the way some people can be so intolerant. It disgusts. But you know what? I am here today because I am still standing. I have not been defeated.”

The crowd was with her. “For the thousands and perhaps millions of Americans who have followed me, who have believed in me, and seen me as just a little beauty pageant girl who was supposed to say ‘world peace.’”

Prejean almost let her emotions get the better of her. “I may not have won the crown that night,” she said, then paused for four seconds, apparently choked up. “I know the Lord has such a bigger crown waiting for me.”

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We will make the case that her title was taken from her solely because of her support of traditional marriage. [Miss California USA official] Keith Lewis has refused to clear her good name or even to admit any wrongdoing.  Therefore, Carrie Prejean is left with no alternative but to take her case to court where she expects to be fully vindicated.

The 15 minutes tick on …

Previous cases have been dismissed on grounds that government officials had “qualified immunity” for their actions — meaning they’re immune from suit if it wasn’t clearly established that what they did was illegal — or based on the government’s claim that the case would expose “state secrets” and endanger national security.

Will the case of Mohammed Jawad, arrested around age 12, tortured and held in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and then Guantanamo Bay for the next six and a half years with no reliable evidence he’d committed a crime, be any different?

Eric Montalvo, one of Jawad’s military defense lawyers who recently entered private practice and paid his own way to accompany Jawad back home earlier this week, hopes he’ll have a better case. The fact that a U.S. military judge confirmed that Jawad was tortured by Afghan authorities, then interrogated under a range of abusive and threatening conditions by U.S. authorities, could help.

“The short answer is, factually we have a different set up given that we have judicial findings of mistreatment,” Montalvo wrote to me yesterday in an email, since he’s not back in the United States yet. “I will have to figure out which way to go to be most successful,” he added, saying it will take some time to develop and file the case.

In the meantime, the Supreme Court could weigh in on the issues. Earlier this week lawyers representing four British former detainees who claim they were tortured at CIA black sites filed a petition asking the court to review dismissal of their clients’ cases. In that case, Rasul v. Myers, the Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit dismissed the men’s claims, ruling that it wasn’t clear at the time that the U.S. wasn’t allowed to torture detainees. The court also ruled that they’re not “persons” within the meaning of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, so their claims that they were denied the right to practice their religion in custody don’t count. The court interpreted that federal law to apply only to U.S. citizens or lawful U.S. residents.

The men are British citizens who were abducted by U.S. officials and imprisoned from 2002 to 2004 at the U.S.-run detention center at Guantanamo Bay. None was a member of any sort of terrorist group or ever charged with a crime.