Habeas Corpus Evaporating

[babylonsister]

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/14/habeas_corpus_evaporating.php


Habeas Corpus Evaporating
Aziz Huq
May 14, 2007

Aziz Huq directs the Liberty and National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice. He is co-author of Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in Times of Terror, and recipient of a 2006 Carnegie Scholars Fellowship.


Six months after Congress enacted the Military Commissions Act of 2006 with its eyes firmly on the polls, there have been many promises and proposals from legislators about how to remedy the damage done to civil liberties by that law—but little action. Despite the powerful advocacy of former military officials, religious figures, and law enforcement officials, Congress has as of yet failed to fix a single one of the MCA’s many flaws.

snip//

Nevertheless, as the possibility of a floor vote on habeas restoration looms, it is also worth keeping an eye on the means by which the administration might still seek to undercut accountability. This is a government that has proved remarkably agile in avoiding really answering for their bad decisions, and we can’t assume they will begin doing so today. There are three things to keep an eye on.

First, even once the habeas function of the federal courts is restored, who has the power to review the facts about an individual detention decision? When the key issue is who is a shepherd and who is a combatant, the facts matter deeply. But the CSRTs are really about finding the truth—they are about ratifying long-ago detention decisions that are in fact deeply unfair. Any law that does not allow the federal courts to do new fact-finding will be fundamentally flawed.

Second, who can be detained? Any new legislation must be scrupulously analyzed to determine whether it incidentally expands executive detention authority.

And finally, does the legislation in any way sign-off on the theory of vast executive power that the administration has consistently proffered? For that vision of open-ended power has not gone away. To the contrary, it’s the reason why this administration keeps going to such lengths to shield decisions from review: It is afraid that a court will not only strike down a particular erroneous decision, but will also invalidate the administration’s dangerous theory of unlimited power.

Habeas must be restored. By its inaction over the last six months, Congress has shown it has yet to grasp that security policy that undermines accountability does not make us more safe, even as it harms innocents. It is a problem that needs to be grasped—and needs to be grasped today.

[windy252]

1. K & R. Very important.

[blondie58]

2. it is an honor to send this off to the greatest page

this is far too important to ignore. Habeas must be restored.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. K&R: It's The Constitution, People!

[cascadiance]

4. We need to get Gonzo GONEZO!!!

IMPEACH him if necessary! And once he is gone, DEMAND that anyone that is selected to replace him will seek to enforce habeus corpus, whether it is the existing (DAMAGED) law or not before approving him/her!

[Zodiak]

5. Nothing to fix Guantanamo...nothing to stop the war

but sign a new free trade deal? Yeah, we got that.

And we got movement on setting up a new Cold War with a defense shield in Eastern Europe.

Who is in power again? Certainly not Democrats.



This image that we are getting of compromising with Bush for things that regular Democrats do not want and ignoring the things that Democrats DO want is not going to serve the party well electorally. But then again, it hastens the demise of the corporate wing of the party, who may not be able to win as dog-catcher in another couple of election cycles.