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Habeas corpus suspended:
“…it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration…. freedom of the person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected…” — Thomas Jefferson: First Inaugural Address
New York Times editorial (A Dangerous New Order):
Once President Bush signed the new law on military tribunals, administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress wasted no time giving Americans a taste of the new order created by this unconstitutional act.
Within hours, Justice Department lawyers notified the federal courts that they no longer had the authority to hear pending lawsuits filed by attorneys on behalf of inmates of the penal camp at Guantánamo Bay. They cited passages in the bill that suspend the fundamental principle of habeas corpus, making Mr. Bush the first president since the Civil War to take that undemocratic step….
Denver Post editorial: Detainee bill a step backwards:
The legislation signed by President Bush providing for trial of suspected terrorists by special military tribunals should be challenged in court, and the sooner the better.
Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 law in a fit of pre-election cowardice, three months after the U.S. Supreme Court found that the administration was violating protections in U.S. and international law. The new law gives the president broad powers to “interpret the meaning and application” of international standards for prisoner treatment.
That’s bad enough, but the new law also allows the indefinite detention of scores of detainees. It allows hearsay evidence during trial and prohibits detainees from having their cases reviewed in a U.S. court, a fundamental protection of U.S. law.
Keith Olbermann, MSNBC: ‘Beginning of the end of America’: Olbermann addresses the Military Commissions Act in a special comment. Transcript and video at MSNBC (one page transcript) . Mirrored, with other video choices, at Crook and Liars.
…And if you somehow think Habeas Corpus has not been suspended for American citizens but only for everybody else, ask yourself this: If you are pulled off the street tomorrow, and they call you an alien or an undocumented immigrant or an “unlawful enemy combatant” — exactly how are you going to convince them to give you a court hearing to prove you are not? Do you think this Attorney General is going to help you?…
Yes, anyone can not be “disappeared” at the pleasure of the President. This abrogation of the most basic right to challenge the legality of your detention is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court must overturn it.
How did America come to this point, where we watch a most basic human freedom be dismantled by something innocuously called a Military Commissions Act? The terrorists did not do this to us. Our own President has done this, with the acquiescence of a Congress that does not challenge him:
Senate Approves Detainee Bill Backed by Bush — (The Senate vote)
House Approves Bill on Detainees — (The House vote)
Americans have a chance to change this Congress at the polls Nov. 7.
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