Monday, March 30, 2009

Christina

"Killing Habeus Corpus," Jeffrey Toobin,
New Yorker, Dec 4, 2006

According to the author, the principle of habeus corpus
(you should have the body) has been suspended for one
of the only times in America's history with Bush's
signing and Congress's passing of the Military
Commissions Act of 2006, which bans
"enemy combatants" (such as those being held at
Guantanamo Bay) the right to file writs of habeas corpus.




- According to the author, Congress was taking
direction from the President, essentially "rolling
over and playing dead" in an unprecedented manner.
- Bush's initial plan for military trials of Guant. Bay
detainees did not accord with the Geneva Conventions
in many respects, including the use of evidence
acquired during torture sessions.
- Most detainees were/are to receive a CSRT trial,
in which witnesses cannot be called, no attorneys are
present, and all are presumed of being an enemy
combatant based on evidence that they aren't allowed
to see. The original CSRT formulations were to allow
for habeas corpus appeal trials, but Bush's new law
has done away with habeas appeals.



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