Editorial: Fight must continue to restore habeas rights

09/23/2007

Burlington Free Press 

The U.S. Senate again failed to bring an end the practice of denying foreign terrorism suspects the right to challenge their detention in court. The suspension of habeas corpus for non-U.S. citizens labeled "enemy combatants" undermines the very idea of the constitutional guarantee of civil rights. These are rights that cannot be taken away at the whim of the government.

The 56-43 vote in the Senate this week fell short of the 60 needed to bring up the measure for consideration. The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 -- sponsored by Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- sought to restore the right to a court hearing for anyone held by the government as a foreign enemy combatant. That right was suspended under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, passed after the Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that the Bush administration could not revoke habeas rights of "illegal enemy combatants."

Those calling for restoring detainees' legal rights include Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Bush administration secretary of state; Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel who led the Whitewater investigations; and David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union.

Under the Military Commissions Act, non-U.S. citizens labeled illegal enemy combatants come under the jurisdiction of military tribunals entirely outside this country's judicial system. Among other injustices, the tribunal may consider evidence obtained through coercion, and detainees have no guarantees that their cases will ever be heard. Restoring habeas rights is a first step toward dismantling a system that mocks the American sense of justice.

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