Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
December 7, 2006
By Lesley Clark and Margaret Talev
WASHINGTON - President Bush's victory in getting the rules he wanted to try suspected terrorists could be diminished.
The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled this week he'll join prominent Democrats in seeking to restore the rights of hundreds of suspected terrorists confined at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere.
While the measure to restore the right of habeas corpus has almost no chance of passing before Congress adjourns later this week, the symbolism is clear: When Democrats take over in early January, the issue could resurface.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006, which Bush signed into law in October, prevents detainees who are not U.S. citizens from challenging their detention in civilian courts.
But Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who voted for the legislation despite his opposition to stripping such rights from detainees, Tuesday reintroduced legislation to restore those rights. A similar measure sponsored by Specter failed by three votes in October.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter said Tuesday he was reintroducing the issue to prevent federal courts from striking down the legislation, which has been challenged by attorneys for some of the detainees.
From the floor, Specter repeated his contention that the act violates the Constitution.
''The Constitution of the United States is explicit that habeas corpus may be suspended only in time of rebellion or invasion,'' Specter said.
His co-sponsor, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who will become chairman of the Judiciary Committee when Democrats take over in January, said abolishing habeas corpus ``is a betrayal of the most basic values of freedom for which America stands.''
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has served as a military lawyer and judge and helped craft the detainee legislation, said he'd oppose the move. And he said he doubted that even a Democratic-led Senate would go along with it.
''I'm curious to see what the five new Democrats would think about giving terrorists the ability to sue our troops in federal court and having federal district court judges make wartime decisions,'' Graham said Wednesday in an interview.
Attorneys for some of those detainees hailed the decision to revisit the issue.
December 7, 2006
By Lesley Clark and Margaret Talev
WASHINGTON - President Bush's victory in getting the rules he wanted to try suspected terrorists could be diminished.
The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled this week he'll join prominent Democrats in seeking to restore the rights of hundreds of suspected terrorists confined at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere.
While the measure to restore the right of habeas corpus has almost no chance of passing before Congress adjourns later this week, the symbolism is clear: When Democrats take over in early January, the issue could resurface.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006, which Bush signed into law in October, prevents detainees who are not U.S. citizens from challenging their detention in civilian courts.
But Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who voted for the legislation despite his opposition to stripping such rights from detainees, Tuesday reintroduced legislation to restore those rights. A similar measure sponsored by Specter failed by three votes in October.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter said Tuesday he was reintroducing the issue to prevent federal courts from striking down the legislation, which has been challenged by attorneys for some of the detainees.
From the floor, Specter repeated his contention that the act violates the Constitution.
''The Constitution of the United States is explicit that habeas corpus may be suspended only in time of rebellion or invasion,'' Specter said.
His co-sponsor, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who will become chairman of the Judiciary Committee when Democrats take over in January, said abolishing habeas corpus ``is a betrayal of the most basic values of freedom for which America stands.''
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has served as a military lawyer and judge and helped craft the detainee legislation, said he'd oppose the move. And he said he doubted that even a Democratic-led Senate would go along with it.
''I'm curious to see what the five new Democrats would think about giving terrorists the ability to sue our troops in federal court and having federal district court judges make wartime decisions,'' Graham said Wednesday in an interview.
Attorneys for some of those detainees hailed the decision to revisit the issue.
