This just in from Patrick Leahy - help restore Habeas Corpus!

[Sydnie]

In a matter of days, one of our nation’s most fundamental liberties is up for a vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate. That’s why I need your help, one more time, to ensure the Senate’s support for my Habeas Corpus Restoration Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill this week.

Last month, your efforts -- and those of thousands of other concerned citizens -- made all the difference. Your flood of emails and phone calls convinced the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve this important piece of legislation on a narrow 11-8 vote.

Now we must win the support of entire U.S. Senate. To you and me, habeas corpus -- the right to challenge one’s detention by the government in a court of law -- may seem like a clear-cut Constitutional guarantee, but many of my colleagues are still on the fence. A Republican filibuster is a very real possibility, which is why I need your help.

Help me avert a potential filibuster against this crucial legislation: Tell your home-state Senators to support the Habeas Corpus Restoration Amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. http://www.leahyforvermont.com/

After all, it was less than a year ago -- just before the 2006 midterm elections -- that a rubber-stamp Congress passed the Military Commissions Act and gave the Bush Administration a green light to detain lawful permanent residents indefinitely. The Habeas Corpus Restoration Amendment will reverse the damage done to our civil liberties and repair a broken system for holding and prosecuting suspected terrorists.

My amendment will address some of the problems judges and legal scholars raised with the Military Commissions Act. For instance, last month judges dismissed the charges against two Guantanamo Bay inmates because of the confusing and contradictory nature of the Act. In other words, we're faced with a situation where we can’t even prosecute the detainees held in Cuba -- yet they and more than 10 million lawful permanent residents can be detained forever based solely on the whims of the President.

Please help me restore a fundamental American right by urging your home-state Senators to support the Habeas Corpus Restoration Amendment when it comes up for a vote this week! http://www.leahyforvermont.com/

Thanks to the support of our Leahy for Vermont online community last month, we cleared one major hurdle. But I am counting on you to take a moment to urge your Senators to support this bill.

The Habeas Corpus Restoration Amendment is a common sense amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill, but we need at least 60 Senators to sign on to make it filibuster-proof.

Please take a moment to email your Senators before they cast their votes on this crucial amendment this week. http://www.leahyforvermont.com/

We have made huge headway over the last several months. Now let’s push the Habeas Corpus Restoration Amendment over the finish line.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,


Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator

[jody]

1. Thanks, I wrote my senators. n/t

[bbgrunt]

2. i wrote mine too.

[snappyturtle]

3. Thanks....done. n/t

[Sydnie]

4. Kick for the east coast dinner crowd. n/t