A year ago this month, in response to a Supreme Court ruling on handling of detainees, Congress quickly and recklessly passed the Military Commissions Act. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) recently described just what a disaster the legislation was for the rule of law.
Of the many assaults on our civil liberties and American values that transpired when the Republicans held complete control of our government, one of the last was also one of the worst. Many of you may recall the hasty passage of the Military Commissions Act in the weeks leading up to last year’s election, a bill that set new rules for trying detainees, in particular those currently being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Even a Supreme Court dominated by Republican-appointed justices had found the Bush Administration’s Guantanamo setup to be unconstitutional. This bill, rushed through a rubberstamp Republican Congress, was the Bush Administration’s way to keep court review in the future to a minimum.
The passage of this bill was a profound mistake, and its elimination of habeas corpus review was its worst error. Like the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the elimination of habeas review was a reflex driven by fear and is another stain on America’s reputation in the world.
Righting this wrong is one of my top priorities, and on the first day of this Congress I joined with Senator Arlen Specter, the Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, in introducing the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007.
The good news is, the bill may come to the Senate floor as early as tomorrow. The bad news is, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — whom David Broder recently praised for his practical, reasonable centrism — has vowed to block the bill with a filibuster. A majority of the Senate appears to support the legislation, but due to GOP obstructionism, proponents of the rule of law will need 60 votes, not 51.
If the bill is going to pass, it looks like the reality-based community is going to have to make a few calls. It’s about as good a cause as you’ll find.
Christy has the list of senators who are considered “on the fence,” along with some toll-free phone numbers to Capitol Hill. She also helpfully included some talking points to use if you’re able to reach your senators’ offices.
* The right of habeas corpus was considered so essential that the Founders wrote it into the Constitution, the only civil liberty enshrined in the Constitution itself. (More information here.)
* We cannot stand up for human rights in the rest of the world and hypocritically deny a right to a fair trial to people we are holding in US custody. When a wingnutty staffer says that would be coddling terrorists, remind them that Jose Padilla was recently tried and found guilty in a court of law, and that the United States should stand for something more than simply holding people indefinitely without charges and a review of the evidence fully by an impartial court. How would they like it if our own American soldiers were treated this way by another nation, for example, because that is exactly what this sort of conduct opens us up to in the future — and why a majority of JAG officers have opposed this course of inaction.
* We should stand up for our values. We are better than this. And it is well past time for us to stand up for liberty.
* There is substantial public support for habeas rights. Open Left has all the details on this, but a substantial majority (a solid 63 percent) of Americans support standing up for the rule of law – not the rule of fear. The Bush Administration has very little support, and the American public does not trust them to be honest on this issue. Isn’t it time that America’s politicians listened to their constituents on this? Even the WaPo editorial staff understands that this is a huge blemish on the national image — Congress needs to right this wrong. Now.
Also, Sens. Dodd and Leahy, both of whom have shown tremendous leadership on this issue, have created RestoreHabeas.org, which includes a running count of the vote tally, based on senators’ stated positions on the bill. As of now, there are 51 “yea” votes, nine short of the number needed to overcome obstructionist tactics, and 42 senators whose position is unclear.
This is a real opportunity to correct a serious mistake. The NYT recently described the MCA as “one of the worst laws in the nation’s history,” and this is a chance to help set things right.
[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.
For all the kvetching that Dems don’t do enough to stand on principle, this is a case of the party and some of its reasonable GOP allies stepping up on one of those fundamental standards that define us as a people. Dems are in the first year of their majority, and I suppose it might have been easy (and rather cynical) for them to focus on new policy goals, let the MCA stand, and say they’d fix last year’s mistakes on habeas some other time.
But instead, they’re doing what they ought to do. That Graham and the GOP are filibustering the bill speaks volumes about their twisted worldview, but there’s a real chance of beating back the obstructionism and passing the bill.
Time to pick up the phone.