The bill would, according to this webiste "return habeas corpus rights to terror suspects imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay military prison." It would allow the detainees the right to challenge their detention in US Courts since that right had been revoked by the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
Why is Habeas Corpus so important? Law professor Jonathan Turley explained on last night's Olbermann (transcript from mcjoan at dailykos)
And when those placid Canadians start protesting, you've got a big problem, eh?First of all, habeas corpus is sometimes treated like some trick by a Philadelphia lawyer. It is actually the foundation for all other rights. When the government throws you into a dungeon for what you say or who you pray to, it's habeas corpus that's the right that allows you to see the enforcement of the other rights. So without habeas corpus, the rest of it is just aspirational and meaningless.
The danger when you walk away from these values, these rights that define us have been proven by this president. The greatest irony of the Bush Administration is that his legacy will be to show the dangers of walking away from those rights that define us. We’re very much alone today. He can’t go to Canada without people protesting, Miss America can’t even go to Mexico without being booed. We’re viewed as a rogue nation and it is a dangerous world to live in when you’re alone.
8 comments:
There is very little chance that this law will have any effect until at least 20-Jan-2009, and not much chance thereafter.
The Democrat contingent in Congress probably will not have the votes or the balls to pass it. If it passes, Mr. Bush will veto it and there will be no attempt to over-ride. If there is an over-ride attempt, it will fail. Even if he signs it, he will do so with a signing statement that nullifies it. And regardless of legality, this President does as he pleases where it comes to abusing Federal power -- over individuals in general and non-citizens in particular.
If any Republican or Ms. Clinton is elected next November (and it appears that one of these likely will become the next Chief Executive), I expect this situation to blossom into full-blown political oppression before the end of my life. I will expect a small group of oligarchs, supported by the courts, to strip any meaningful result from the remaining vestiges of the Bill of Rights in the name of "safety" and "the global war on terror."
Incidently, to beat my favorite dead horse: Senator Casey will no doubt offset Senator Spector and side with the Administration as he does with all "terrorism" and "right-to-life" issues. If you voted for him, congratulations! Your right-wingers won!
i saw that last night and i've seen this man many times before.
he has had it right from the very begining and yet so many die hard right wingers don't seem to care about gutting the document they claim to honor.
Miss America can’t even go to Mexico without being booed.
Maybe that booing was because the Mexicans hate the US as "land-stealing Gringos".
However, you guys want to to give constitutional habeas corpus rights to enemies captured on the battlefield and who are not US citizens and do not follow the Geneva Conventions.
Perhaps you guys believe that FDR should have turned captured Nazi Saboteurs over to US marshals/the Federal court system.
What Happened to the 8 Germans Tried by a Military Court in World War II?
But then FDR was a corrupt power hungry warmongering bastard just like George W Bush.
Before you guys call me a Nazi defender, note that the last sentence was sarcasm/mocking of Code Pink.
and when they come to take your precious guns away and cart you with them THEN you'll understand WHY the founding fathers wrote this law!
like the mayor of new york saiws the other day"...get a life."
(or just keep hiding under your bed )
However, you guys want to to give constitutional habeas corpus rights to enemies captured on the battlefield and who are not US citizens and do not follow the Geneva Conventions.
Several problems with your statement there, Mein Heir.
If they are enemies captured on the battlefield, they are POWs.
We "guys" do not want such prisoners to have habeas corpus rights. There are standards in the Geneva Convention (to which the US is a signatory) for treatment of POWs. We "guys" want such prisoners treated as prescribed in the Geneva Convention, which is the law of the land because properly ratified treaties become the law of the land according to the Constitution(you remember the Constitution, don't you?).
What's more, it's not what we "guys" want. It's what guys like Jefferson and Madison want. If it doesn't work any more, you should work to amend the Constitution (you remember the Constitution, don't you?).
Further, habeas corpus does not apply only to US citizens. The Constitution (you remember the Constitution, don't you?) mentions nothing about citizenship.
It must be tough, waking up every morning knowing you're going to be wrong about almost everything.
Has anybody done one of those neat Internet IP things to determine that Mein Heir is Master Lie?
I have to wonder what it's like to be somebody like Mr. Heir - either 1) so dumb as to believe everything he hears on Faux News or reads on wingnut blogs, 2) so loyal to party that he'll pretty much say the opposite of whatever somebody who identifies with the Democratic party or progressive beliefs might think, or 3) so pee-in-his-pants scared of the brown-skinnned people that he's willing to completely abandon the principles on which this country was founded.
The latter, of course, has never really been the case with the wingnuts, because they have never really believed in the principles on which this country was founded, only in bending them in any which way possible to support their strange and warped agenda.
I suspect it's really a combination of those three.
I hate to use such broad strokes, but there is such an identifiable group of people like Mein Heir, people whose behavior and beliefs totally run counter to the Constitution and Democracy - and so predictably so - I can't seem to avoid it.
Naw, Heirless is waaaaay smarter than Braden...but then so is sphagnum moss.
Good post. Sometimes I wish I got MSNBC.
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