LEAHY & SPECTOR Will Introduce Legislation On Friday To RESTORE HABEAS CORPUS Protections

[kpete]

Leahy, Specter to introduce habeas legislation. On Friday, Sens. Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) plan to introduce an amendment restoring the habeas corpus protections stripped as a result of last year’s Military Commissions Act. The legislation would restore basic civil liberties to roughly 12 million legal permanent residents of the United States. From Leahy’s statement:

Last year, Congress committed an historic mistake by suspending the Great Writ of habeas corpus — not just for those confined at Guantanamo Bay, but for millions of legal residents in the United States. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing in May on this bill illustrated the broad agreement among people of diverse political beliefs and backgrounds that the mistake committed in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 must be corrected. This Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 has 25 cosponsors, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed it last month on a bipartisan basis.

Habeas corpus was recklessly undermined in last year’s Military Commissions Act. Like the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the elimination of habeas rights was an action driven by fear, and it was a stain on America’s reputation in the world. This is a time of testing. Future generations will look back to examine the choices we made during a time when security was too often invoked as a watchword to convince us to slacken our defense of liberty and the rule of law.

Contact your senators and urge them to support the Habeas Restoration Act.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/10/leahy-specter-to-introduce-habeas-legislation/

[That Is Quite Enough]

1. Good for them, good for us all

I'm glad that somebody's finally making some attempt to restore Habeas Corpus. Take that, Military Commissions Act! :patriot:

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. here's what I really don't "get"...

The Writ of Habeas Corpus is in the original US Constitution, found in Article I.

From what I understand, to change the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both houses, as well as in the states before the constitution can be altered.

Am I incorrect?

And, if I am correct, then how could congress suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus without it also coming before the governance and approval of the people?


Congress is representative, not unilateral.

I am confused.

Things are so fucked up from BushCo that the effects will be echoing for many years to come. :cry:

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

3. They can do whatever the f*ck they want until challenged in the SCOTUS.

Kinda' scary,...huh.

[cui bono]

5. Very interesting point. I never heard anyone mention it, not even

Jonathan Turley!

[Gregorian]

7. That bill was for "detainees", if I recall.

I seem to remember that it was not a Constitutional amendment. But I'm still sitting here wondering, and scratching my head.

I think we need more legal minds to focus on what you are bringing back up. How can it be separate from the Constitution? It's as though we've allowed a second and separate Constitution to be created.

[babylonsister]

4. Nom! for good intentions and good luck! nt

[cui bono]

6. This is the act that 10 out of 11 Repubs voted against taking out of committee.

I brought that up at my Congressman's town hall meeting a few weeks ago and he took the time to explain habeus corpus to the people who were there. It made me feel kind of good to think that my having showed up may have alerted some people to the issue. Most people were asking about immigration since I'm in a very Hispanic district of Los Angeles.

[annabanana]

8. I believe many of these "permanent legal residents"

Were scooped up in massive sweeps of meat packing plants, and other places suspected of hiring undocumented workers...