Friday, June 8th, 2007...8:42 am
Habeas Corpus Is Back?
Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter pushed a bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee called the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, that would reverse the revokation of the right of detainees at Guantamano Bay to a hearing. Specter was the only Republican on the committee to vote for the bill, which means our own Jon Kyl voted against restoring this important right.
Kyl would probably be the first to argue that this is giving a right to terrorists. As an attorney, he’s got to know that this is not about rights for accused terrorists, but rights for the rest of us. The other rights we have are just nice words if we aren’t allowed to petition the courts when we feel those rights are violated. As much as we’d like to think that taking away Habeas Corpus only hurts terrorists, how would any of us argue that we aren’t terrorists or criminals if we don’t have the right to a hearing?
(By the way, I doubt any Republican member of the Senate would buy an attempt to abridge the Second Ammendment as “only affecting terrorists.” I guess the rest of the Bill of Rights is up for grabs.)
Once again, Kyl seems to care more about carrying water for the administration than about the Constitution that he studied as an attorney and swore to uphold as a Senator.
I won’t take back any of the bad things I’ve said about the Senator from Pennsylvania, but I promise never to call him Arlen Sphincter again.
3 Comments
June 8th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
It’s about time too … I have missed it so.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
It is apalling that things have gotten so bad that Congress has to legislate basic Constitutional rights.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Certainly not necessary to obliterate our basic legal rights as defind in our Bill of Rights. As to those in Gitmo, they should be handled the same as was done in WW2. Enemy combatants caught on the battlefield in civilian clothing were summarily executed on the spot. Imagine how much could be saved in $$$ and national image if Gitmo wasn’t even needed. But that was then and this is now and our enemies have legions of benefactors right here in America so lets afford them all the rights and privilages of every American citizen whose head they want to saw off with a rusty bread knife. Go figure!