habeas schmabeas

So, the Senate and Congress are voting on (or maybe have already passed, either way, its gonna pass if not already) a bill on military tribunals that will remove the right to habeas corpus for essentially all Aliens, legal or Illegal. Here is the fun part of the bill:

`(e)(1) No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who--

`(A) is currently in United States custody; and

`(B) has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.

`(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1005(e) of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (10 U.S.C. 801 note), no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any other action against the United States or its agents relating to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of confinement of an alien detained by the United States who--

`(A) is currently in United States custody; and

`(B) has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to all cases, without exception, pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act which relate to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of detention of an alien detained by the United States since September 11, 2001.

SEC. 7. TREATY OBLIGATIONS NOT ESTABLISHING GROUNDS FOR CERTAIN CLAIMS.

(a) In General- No person may invoke the Geneva Conventions, or any protocols thereto, in any habeas or civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States, is a party, as a source of rights in any court of the United States or its States or territories.

Thats right, I actually looked up the text of a Senate bill... kinda dry and legalese, but its got these nice juicy parts in it. Ok, now for my notorious ignorant and naive legal analasis:

First, Wikipedia defines habeas corpus as:

a legal instrument or writ by means of which detainees can seek release from unlawful imprisonment. A writ of habeas corpus is a court order addressed to a prison official (or other custodian) ordering that a detainee be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he or she should be released from custody. The writ of habeas corpus in common law countries is an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.

I take this to mean that habeas corpus is a means by which a person can challenge their imprisonment and at the very least, be told why they are being imprisoned. This seems pretty damn close to our 6th ammendment...

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Anyway, the bill basically says that if you are not a US citizen, and are detained on the slightest suspicion of being an "enemy combatant" (a term which I believe is redefined in this same bill that can be interpreted to include peace activists, lawyers for terror suspects, and anyone who may have unintentionally contributed money to terrorist groups), you cannot file a writ of habeas corpus. In other words, you cant ask for proof that you are being held for any particular reason or that they have any proof against you. All they have to do is say that they are "Awaiting determination" as to whether or not you are an enemy combatant. So basically, lets say this was like 10 years ago when my mom was still a Canadian citizen. Lets say she wrote a $10 check to some charity that called her up and said "Good morning M'am, I am calling on behalf of People For The Better Treatment of Women, Children, Puppies, and Kittens in Afghanistan. Would you be able to help end the plight of cute things in our lovely country?", and that call happened to be coming from a suspected terrorist in another country, so it was tapped by NSA (Another bill in the house/senate that has a snowballs chance in hell of being blocked), they could arrest her, put her in Git'mo, and then when she was like "Hey, Im not sure whether I am being lawfully held. Can you tell me what I am charged with, and let me see whether you have any evidence against me?" They could just say "Not until we decide if you are an enemy combatant." And that process could take years, decades, or a lifetime.

OK, look this is all thrown together, and poorly sourced... But here is what it comes down to. Here is the way to solve the issue of how to treat "enemy combatants", terrorists, and foreign puppy drowners or any other undesirbales... ready for it? TREAT THEM EXACTLY THE SAME FUCKING WAY YOU WOULD TREAT TERRORISTS, PUPPY DROWNERS, CHILD FUCKERS, MASS MURDERERS, RAPISTS, OR ANY OTHER PEOPLE WHO COMMIT AGREGEOUS CRIMES THAT HAPPEN TO BE AMERICANS. When Timothy McViegh blew up a few hundred people in Oklahoma City, there was no serious debate over whether he shoul dbe held without trial or waterboarded or denied the rights afforded by the constitution. The guy was a douche bag, who deserved what came to him (even if I dont support the death penalty). He killed hundreds of innocent people including a bunch of children, and he very well might have had friends who were planning similar attacks, but we didnt use unconventional methods to get information out of him or deny him habeas corpus. Our constitutional rights should apply to all people regardless of citizenship. If we find some dude in Fallujah who just shot up a group of cute little kids, we should detain him and then treat him exactly the same way we whould treat a person who shot up a school or abortion clinic or shopping mall in this country. Maybe it doesn't make us safer, but it keeps us from being horrible hyocrites when we talk about spreading democracy, or condemning human rights violations. We should view our constitution as a universal document which applies to all human beings. If we do that, then we dont even have to worry about the geneva conventions, which by the way this bill says cant be used as a source of rights in any US court. No body wants to help the terrorists... we all want them brought to justice, but the more we bastardize what our sountry is supposed to stand for, the more we let them win. They want to hurt us and the best way to do that is to make us A) scared shittless, regardless of whether there is a real threat or not and B) For us to revoke our own rights and make ourselves closer to their opressive and opaque forms of government. Our government is doing a fine job on both accounts.

I'll leave you with a great quote from senator Patrick Leahy and some links:

What has changed in the past five years that justifies not merely suspending, but abolishing the writ of habeas corpus for a broad category of people who have not been found guilty or even charged with any crime? What has changed in the last five years that our Government is so inept and our people so terrified that we must do what no bomb or attack could ever do by taking away the very freedoms that define America? Why would we allow the terrorists to win by doing to ourselves what they could never do and abandon the principles for which so many Americans today and through our history have fought and sacrificed? What has happened that the Senate is willing to turn America from a bastion of freedom into a caldron of suspicion ruled by a Government of unchecked power?

anyway, here are some interesting, if not scary links for your enjoyment:
Senator Leahy's Comments on the Bill
Full Text of Bill
Senator Obama's Comments.
Story about a guy held at git'mo for no real reason.
Bill Of Rights.