« Guantanamo detainee #940 | Main | Friday Funnies »
March 30, 2007
Restore the Constitution
In this clip, Chris Dodd discusses his proposed legislation, the Restore the Constitution Act of 2007, which defines the characteristics of enemy combatants, defines who can be tried by military tribunals, outlines the types of evidence that can be used against them, and most importantly restores the right of habeas corpus to all persons detained by the United States.
You can read the full text of the Act at the link above, and sign on as a citizen co-sponsor. The Act itself is rather long and technical, and one problem with the web site is that it doesn't give a very good non-technical discussion of the ramifications of the many sub-sections of the Act. But the primary purpose is clear — to restore the honor of the United States and return to our faith in the Constitution by affirming the right of Habeas Corpus to all people in our judicial system.
This doesn't keep us from trying terrorists and finding them guilty. It keeps us from sliding into the gutter with them, and stops the Administration from denying this most basic and long-standing legal right.
_______________________________________
Apparently this has been introduced as Senate Bill 576. It's been read twice and referred to the Armed Services Committee. It has ten co-sponsors.
In searching the bill's status, I also found S. 185, the Habeus Corpus Restoration Act, sponsored by Arlen Spector and co-sponsored by Patrick Leahy. This bill is much shorter and does not contain all the specifics about how the military trials should be conducted. It has been read twice and is in the hands of the Judiciary Committee.
Posted by jnfr at March 30, 2007 08:30 AM