Another in an ongoing series.
Dear Senator;
I am a resident of Pennsylvania and a constituent of yours and I'd like you to answer a question or two.
Let me ask you again about DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, since you voted to confirm her.
A few days ago, The New York Times reported:
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, bungled answers on Tuesday about habeas corpus, incorrectly asserting that the legal right of people to challenge their detention by the government was actually the president’s “constitutional right” to deport people.
She reportedly said that habeas corpus is "a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights."
This, of course, is untrue. The Cornell Law School states:
The habeas corpus first originated back in 1215, through the 39th clause of the Magna Carta signed by King John, which provided "No man shall be arrested or imprisoned...except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land."And in August, 1969 (about 5 months before you were born) the US Supreme Court wrote, in Harris v Nelson:
The writ of habeas corpus is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action. Its preeminent role is recognized by the admonition in the Constitution that: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended. . . ."
Considering your vote to confirm her as DHS Secretary, do you still support Noem's appointment as head of that department, given her complete misunderstanding of habeas corpus?
I'll await your answer, Senator.
As always, I'll post whatever the Senator sends me in response.
