
The Whistle-Blower Who Freed Dreyfus - nsedlet
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/opinion/the-whistle-blower-who-freed-dreyfus.html
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JohnGB
It makes you wonder just how much of the "evidence" used in current secret
courts would stand up to a transparent judicial process.

~~~
mortov
Which is indeed the point of the article I think.

Secret courts are an aberration to any civilised society.

England is at the forefront of such things in many areas - not just the
dreaded terrorism. The Family Courts routinely operate in secret with it being
a criminal offence to report on their activities or even any of the people
involved. Recent examples are a woman who was sentenced to prison in absentia
for taking her father out a care home to go on holiday - she was arrested on
her return and taken straight to prison as she had already been sentenced to 5
months. It was a further offence for her to even tell people /why/ she was in
prison !

Only after diplomatic intervention was an Italian woman able to reveal one of
these secret courts had forced a cesarian on her and the removal of her baby
after she had been treated for depression. Social workers used the secret
courts to sieze the child and then to try and prevent her publicising the
injustice. This became a serious diplomatic incident once the Italian
authorities found out about
it.[[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/03/forced-
caesar...](http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/03/forced-caesarian-
italian-woman-suffering-animal)]

There are hundreds of examples of secret courts making outrageous decisions
but very few ever make it into the papers due to the knee-jerk imprisonment
meted out for any discussion of the cases.

Some small hope has recently arisen as the new president of the court had
indicated he does not agree with the total secrecy but it is too early to tell
if there really will be any rolling back as it has become a comfortable area
to operate for public bodies who know they not only get to operate without
oversight but can vexatiously imprison anyone who tries to argue they have
overstepped their authority (or common sense).

[edit: minor corrections and link to article on Italian woman]

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Luc
According to the footer, "Robert Harris is the author of a forthcoming novel
about Georges Picquart, “An Officer and a Spy.” ".

Actually, it appears to be out since September:
[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00COMWJG0/](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00COMWJG0/)

~~~
mjn
It looks like it came out only in the UK in September on paper, but the ebook
launch wasn't region-restricted, so it's already available on U.S. Kindles.
But if you look at the U.S. dead-tree editions, January 2014 is the U.S.
hardcover and July 2014 the U.S. paperback.

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dded
Any recommendations on a good book-length account of the Dreyfus Affair? I've
read the chapter in Tuchman's _Proud Tower_. I've always loved her books, but
this is just a short chapter in a longer book. (I also read Shirer's _Third
Republic_ , but that was so long ago I don't remember. It was just a chapter
also.)

~~~
charlus
Bredin's 1983 _The Affair_ is really seen as the most thorough account. My
favourite reading of the affair is actually _In Search of Lost Time_ , as
Proust shows the split in society during this period over the second and third
(perhaps the fourth too I think?) volumes.

~~~
dded
Thanks. I might have to check out Bredin

(Proust, at 4k pages, is perhaps _too_ long! :-) But I appreciate the
recommendation. That split in society was emphasized by Tuchman, as I recall.)

~~~
rodgerd
Proust is shorter than "The War of the Roses, WITH DRAGONS!", and plenty of
people have ploughed through that.

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aluhut
This link worked for me to bypass the paywall:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/opinion/the-whistle-
blower...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/opinion/the-whistle-blower-who-
freed-dreyfus.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss)

~~~
strathmeyer
Thank goodness I'm always curious why half the links where don't work for me.

