Senate Judiciary Committee Votes To Restore Habeas Corpus Rights
Published by Pokerwolf on Thursday, June 07, 2007 at 1:33 PM.
Senate Begins Real Push on Habeas Corpus - The Nation
That's a very small majority. Wow. If you think that news sounds good, check this out:
This is pretty big news and the PR fallout from the decision is going to be spectacular. Expect a lot of "You're helping the terrorists!" stuff to come from the Executive Branch and other GOP outlets. How the Dems, and the Republicans that agree with them on this issue, handle that sort of thing (which they should counter by stating things such as, "these rights are what our country was founded on and they differentiate us from the terrorists", which Senator Dodd did in a very well done fashion for the article I quoted above) will determine a decent amount of public opinion. This decision also has huge election ramifications, especially for those candidates in the upcoming election who have similar views to our current President.
It's also entirely possible that this decision will be the beginning of a schism in the GOP. Bush and his cronies alienated a large section of their party and their voting base with the Military Commissions Act. It will be quite a PR coup for the Democrats if they get the MCA overturned and Habeas Corpus is restored.
Today the Senate Judiciary Committee passed an important bill to restore habeas corpus, the sacrosanct Constitutional right to challenge government detention in court, by a vote of eleven to eight.
Habeas corpus was revoked by last year’s Military Commissions Act, which has been assailed as unconstitutional and un-American by leaders across the political spectrum. Today’s habeas bill was backed by the Judiciary Committee’s Democratic Chairman, Patrick Leahy, and its Republican Ranking Member, Arlen Specter. "The drive to restore this fundamental right has come from both sides of the aisle," said Sharon Bradford, an attorney at the bipartisan Constitution Project, in response to today’s vote. "Restoring America’s commitment to the rule of law is not a partisan cause; it is a patriotic one," she added.
Today’s vote means the habeas bill can now be brought to the Senate floor at any time. One source with knowledge of the legislative plan said Majority Leader Harry Reid has committed to bringing the bill to a vote within the month.
That's a very small majority. Wow. If you think that news sounds good, check this out:
Some Democrats are pushing Reid to go further, advocating more comprehensive human rights protections and a repeal of the entire Military Commissions Act. Senator Chris Dodd, the most aggressive defender of the Constitution in the presidential race, is pushing legislation that would not only restore habeas, but also ban the use of evidence obtained through torture and recommit the U.S. to the Geneva Conventions. "We must recognize that our security is enhanced by upholding our nation's historic legal principles as we vigorously pursue terrorists," he said in a statement today.
This is pretty big news and the PR fallout from the decision is going to be spectacular. Expect a lot of "You're helping the terrorists!" stuff to come from the Executive Branch and other GOP outlets. How the Dems, and the Republicans that agree with them on this issue, handle that sort of thing (which they should counter by stating things such as, "these rights are what our country was founded on and they differentiate us from the terrorists", which Senator Dodd did in a very well done fashion for the article I quoted above) will determine a decent amount of public opinion. This decision also has huge election ramifications, especially for those candidates in the upcoming election who have similar views to our current President.
It's also entirely possible that this decision will be the beginning of a schism in the GOP. Bush and his cronies alienated a large section of their party and their voting base with the Military Commissions Act. It will be quite a PR coup for the Democrats if they get the MCA overturned and Habeas Corpus is restored.
