habeas corpus anyone???

[jhhh]

I'm amazed that there hasn't been much of a debate over what this administration has done to habeas corpus. I'm dying for a real dialogue between politicians about the ramifications of the suspension of habeas corpus. I even got a shirt to wear around to remind people...from
http://www.neo-liberal.net/

I hope things will change. If there was ever another 9/11 event the country could transform into a police state. Does anyone have any updates about this issue?????




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[babylonsister]

1. There was quite a bit of discussion earlier this fall. If you want to

contribute to DU, you can do searches and see what I'm talking about.

[jhhh]

2. habeas corpus

I'll look it up. I guess it isn't the most current topic but it is so important!!!

[LetsThink]

3. Army Sues to Have TO Reporters Testify=> is this.......

RELATED to what is happening to habeas corpus ? Is there a broader view of the assualt on personal freedoms of expression- that is, an assualt on the right to get out views not in concert with the general 'official' government/ Bush/ Repub version?

BTW: I know the definition of habeas corpus.....

Here's a link to the 12/13/2006 TO story by Jason Leopold: " Army Targets Truthout for Subpoenas in Watada Case " http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121306J.shtml

excerpt: "....... Simpich agreed. He said the Watada case is extraordinary because the military, as a branch of the federal government, is pouncing on the Constitution and using the free press to try to send someone to jail. Moreover, the military is threatening to send the reporters to jail if they are subpoenaed and fail to testify on behalf of the government. ..........."

[CODEPINK]

4. CODEPINK Delegation Travels to Guantanamo to Protest Infamous US Prison

Contact:
Medea Benjamin: US phone [phone] Cuba 011-53-5-292-0573
Catherine Murphy: Cuba 011-53-5-283-2210
Dana Balicki: US phone [phone]

International Delegation Travels to Guantanamo, Cuba to Protest Infamous US Prison
Delegates include mother of current prisoner, former Guantanamo detainee,
and high-level US peace activists

On January 9-13, a first-ever international delegation of former prisoners, families of current prisoners, US lawyers and human rights activists will travel to Guantanamo, Cuba to hold a conference on prison abuses and march to the Cuban-side security gate of the US Naval Base to call for the closure of the illegal prison. The protest in Cuba is part of the January 11 International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, the day that marks the 5-year anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to Guantanamo.

“I am traveling all the way from Dubai because by heart is overflowing with grief over the abuse and ongoing detention of my son,” says Zohra Zewawi, whose son has been tortured and blinded in one eye during his detention, and has never been charged or tried. Her son was imprisoned in September 2002 and is still a prisoner in Guantanamo. Asif Iqbal, a former detainee who was freed on no charges after years of abuse, is coming to show his support for the basic rights of detainees.

“All prisoners deserve humane treatment and fair trials, which is not happening in Guatanamo,” says retired US Army Colonel and delegate Ann Wright. “US federal courts, not military commissions, should hear the cases against those charged with terrorist acts and the infamous prison in Guantanamo should be immediately shut down.”

The group, organizing by US groups CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Global Exchange, will hold a press conference in Havana on January 9, a conference in Guantanamo on January 10 on prison conditions and international law, and then on January 11 will march from the center of Guantanamo to the security gate of the US Naval Base where the prison is located to hold an interfaith service and call for the closing of the prison. The group will then travel to Havana to debrief the press on January 13. A smaller group will then travel to the US to lobby Congress to shut the prison, restore Habeas Corpus, repeal the Military Commissions Act, and give all detainees fair trials or release them.

In both Guantanamo and Havana, the award-winning film ‘Road to Guantanamo’ will be screened, with a post-showing dialogue with e film co-producer Matt Whitecross and former prisoner Asif Iqbal, whose horrific story of detention is portrayed in the docu-drama.

The 12-person delegation also includes renowned US “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan whose son was killed in the war in Iraq; Adele Welty whose firefighter son was killed on 9/11; US human rights/peace leader Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange and CODEPINK; retired US Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright who resigned over the invasion of Iraq; and legal director of the US Center for Constitutional Rights Bill Goodman who has taken the cases of Guantanamo detainees to the US Supreme Court.

On January 11, the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, protests will be held all over the world, including England, Australia and Holland. In the US major protests and radical street action will take place in Washington DC and New York City, plus dozens of cities throughout the country, including outside the US Southern Command in Miami.

For interviews with delegates traveling to Cuba, contact Medea Benjamin by phone or [e-mail]. For information about US and other international protests on January 11, see www.witnesstorture.org or contact Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424.

[Hosnon]

5. Here is a link to a large discussion that took place a while back:

Official Military Commissions Act of 2006 and Habeas Corpus Thread

I started that thread and it is cross-linked with the other major threads during the same time (which also cross-link to other threads...it's a big web).

Hope it's not too late of a response...I just happened to stumble across your thread.

Enjoy!

[ScottGregory]

6. quoted on habeas corpus....from U.S. Const.> RE: Get a load of this...from AG Alberto Gonzales

Here is the exact quote..

“The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. “ Art. 1, sect. 9, clause 2, Const. of the U.S. (entire text)

OK….clearly that means that all persons apprehended have a right (? Privilege) of access to the courts (that’s what habeas corpus means…an apprehended person has a right to plea and review of his detainment promptly by a court), and that privilege can only be “suspended” not just in cases of rebellion or invasion (notice…not WAR !! only rebellion or invasion), but when in the context of those conditions, the “public safety may require it” Not a sure thing, the removal of habeas…even in times of invasion or rebellion….but only when an invasion or rebellion “may” require it….this is exceedingly limited. The citizenry have to be taking up arms against the government, or planes bombing and navies of foreign nations appearing on the lands and shores of the states; foreign soldiers parachuting down into mid-town Manhattan….. etc. etc. LOL!

Now where does Dubya’s excuse for an Attorney General, TexMex Gonzales get his interpretation (see below)…..inquiring minds would like to know…oh, yes, we already know…he just made it up. The “Nazi-like” BIG LIE, say it, repeat it often enough, and people will…and then you can re-write history.
--SG
**************************************************************************************
What Gonzales, Specter said
Excerpts from the exchange between Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Jan. 17:
Gonzales: There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There's a prohibition against taking it away. ...
Specter: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take it away except in cases of rebellion or invasion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there's an invasion or rebellion?
Gonzales: I meant by that comment, the Constitution doesn't say every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right to habeas. Doesn't say that. It simply says the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except...
Specter: You may be treading on your interdiction and violating common sense, Mr. Attorney General.