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In
2006, at the president’s request, Congress changed U.S. law so that
certain detainees who are not citizens can now be denied the ability to
question whether they are being wrongfully detained. We at FCNL believe
a majority of senators support restoring habeas corpus rights for
non-citizen detainees, but these senators need to be encouraged to act.
The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act (S. 185),
a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen
Specter (R-PA), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, would restore the right of detainees held by the U.S. at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere around the world to challenge the
legality of their detention in a U.S. federal court. As of March 1, the
legislation has six co-sponsors. In order for the Senate to move
forward on this bill, it needs more members’ support, much more
support.
Take Action
Please contact your senators
and ask them to cosponsor S. 185, the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act. If
they are already cosponsors, thank them and urge them to encourage
their colleagues to schedule a hearing and a vote on this bill.
Background
U.S. detainees labeled “unlawful enemy combatants,” imprisoned at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and elsewhere around the world, currently do not
have any procedure by which they can petition an independent judicial
body to claim that they are being wrongfully detained. In October 2006,
with the passage of the Military Commissions Act (MCA), Congress and
the president stripped non-citizen detainees of the ability to question
the legality of their detention in U.S. federal courts.
The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act (S. 185) is a short, simple bill that would repeal the habeas corpus-stripping
provision of the MCA. The bill, introduced by Senators Leahy and
Specter, is cosponsored as of March 1 by Senators Sherrod Brown (OH),
Dianne Feinstein (CA), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Hillary Clinton (NY),
Russ Feingold (WI) and Ken Salazar (CO). We at FCNL are urging more
senators to cosponsor this legislation, to urge the Senate to hold
hearings on the bill, and to schedule a vote.
Habeas corpus has been a part of Anglo-Saxon legal
tradition for nearly 800 years. It is a fundamental principle of the
rule of law, protecting detainees from wrongful imprisonment. The
Habeas Corpus Restoration Act would right the shameful legislative
action in the MCA, and would allow independent courts to examine U.S.
detention of non-citizen individuals labeled by the administration as
“unlawful enemy combatants.”
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