Last October, just a few weeks before the midterm elections, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, which among other things suspended habeas corpus for suspected terrorists. Since then, several leading Dems have introduced measures to undo the mistake, and the ACLU has launched a terrific initiative called “Find Habeas,” which is gearing up to be part of a massive lobbying campaign.
As it turns out, the first step towards correcting last fall’s error may come as early as today.
The chance comes in a markup by the House Armed Services Committee of the annual defense authorization bill. Democrats on the committee and lobbyists for human rights groups say they have gathered enough votes to add an amendment to the legislation that would reverse Congress’s decision last year to strip detainees of the habeas right. […]
Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) says he favors the reform. At a hearing on Guantanamo last month he said he thought Congress acted unconstitutionally in denying prisoners habeas. But Mr. Skelton didn’t include the amendment in the draft bill he circulated to his committee. His staff says he concluded that the measure should be contained in a stand-alone piece of legislation, which he is said to be preparing. That strategy is at odds both with recent legislative history and with the judgment of most congressional observers: Mr. Bush, they point out, won’t hesitate to veto a bill on habeas corpus but might be induced to accept the reform if it were attached to one of the annual defense bills. That is how Congress managed to force the reform of prisoner treatment known as the McCain amendment two years ago.
This is a real opportunity to correct a serious mistake. House Dems should take advantage of it. The NYT fairly described the MCA as “one of the worst laws in the nation’s history,” and this is a chance to help set things right.
The NYT added:
[L]et’s be clear. There is nothing “conservative” or “tough on terrorism” in selectively stripping people of their rights. Suspending habeas corpus is an extreme notion on the radical fringes of democratic philosophy. As four retired military chief prosecutors — from the Navy, the Marines and the Army — pointed out to Congress, holding prisoners without access to courts merely feeds Al Qaeda’s propaganda machine, increases the risk to the American military and sets a precedent by which other governments could justify detaining American civilians without charges or appeal.
Consider some of the other wild-eyed liberals calling on Congress to restore habeas corpus: William Sessions, director of the F.B.I. under the first President Bush; David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union; the National Association of Evangelicals; David Neff, editor of Christianity Today, founded by the Rev. Billy Graham; a long list of other evangelical leaders and scholars; and nearly two dozen sitting and retired federal judges. […]
The Democratic majority has a long list of wrongs to right from six years of Mr. Bush’s leadership. We are sympathetic to their concerns about finding a way to revive habeas corpus that won’t die in committee or be subject to a presidential veto of a larger bill. But lawmakers sometimes have to stand on principle and trust the voters to understand.
This is one of those times.
It is, indeed. MyDD and FDL are organizing the netroots community, with a list of targeted lawmakers and their contact information. Christy Hardin Smith also reminds us of why Habeas review matters.
Stay tuned.