Habeas Corpus Denied

Armed with the new Military Commissions Act, the U.S. “Justice” department is already up to its old tricks. According to the Washington Post a motion has been filed in the 4th Circuit asserting that the law allows a foreign national accused of being an enemy combatant to be detained indefinitely without recourse to the civilian court system. This is said to apply even if the person is arrested within the United States.

A controversial section (5a) of the law states that “No person may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto in any habeas corpus or other 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”. On the face of it, this section revokes a constitutional right with roots in the Magna Carta of 1215 (see section 39) and made explicit by the British Parliament in the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 .

Unfortunately, the public can often be swayed by the argument that terrorists shouldn’t have rights. Often the courts are equally reluctant to tread in national security areas especially when both the President and Congress have spoken. But without Habeas Corpus how do we know that a detainee is in fact a foreign national enemy combatant? There have already been cases of completely uninvolved people being swept up in the terrorism hysteria. What’s to prevent this law from being extended to an unrelated situation where it is politically inconvenient to have a person on the street talking to the media? Research the background to the 1679 Act if you think this is just paranoia. Limiting Habeas Corpus could be used to deny anyone (not just evil doers) access to the law.++