MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Constitutional Law Scholar Jonathan Turley discuss the urgency of the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007, a bill that would restore the constitutional right, originally embedded in Article One, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution but revoked by Congress last year as part of the Military Commissions Act, for a prisoner to be brought before the court so that the court can determine whether that person is serving a lawful sentence or should be released from custody:
From Reuters:
U.S. Senate moves to restore detainee rights
by Jane Sutton
WASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) – Guantanamo prisoners and other foreigners got a step closer to regaining the right to challenge their detention in the U.S. courts in a bill approved in a U.S. Senate committee on Thursday.
The Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to send the proposal to the full Senate for debate, with Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania the lone Republican joining the Democratic majority.
Congress last year revoked the rights of foreign terrorism suspects labeled “enemy combatants” to challenge their detention by the United States. The Bush administration said it was necessary to prevent them from attacking Americans if freed.
The move affected about 380 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban captives held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. It could also affect 12 million legal residents of the United States who are not U.S. citizens, said the committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
“I hope the Senate will reconsider the historic error in judgment,” Leahy said.
The proposal would restore the right of habeas corpus, Latin for “have the body,” which has been the foundation of Anglo-American justice. It prevents the government from locking people up without review by a court. Read the full article here.
Thanks Truth Out