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Habeus Corpus Delicti
Author: BobR    Date: 06/13/2008 12:05:10

Yesterday, the SCOTUS upheld the long-held rule of Habeus Corpus for the detainees in Gitmo, striking a blow to Bush's attempts to lock them up and throw away the key without so much as an arraignment. How long held is the idea of Habeus Corpus, and what exactly does it mean? From the Wiki:

'Habeas corpus' (IPA: /ˈheɪbiəs ˈkɔɹpəs/) (Latin: [We command] that you have the body) is the name of a legal action, or writ, through which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention of themselves or another person. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.

Also known as "The Great Writ," a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is a summons with the force of a court order addressed to the custodian (such as a prison official) demanding that a prisoner be brought before the court, together with proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether that custodian has lawful authority to hold that person, or, if not, the person should be released from custody. The prisoner, or another person on their behalf (for example, where the prisoner is being held incommunicado), may petition the court or an individual judge for a writ of habeas corpus.

The right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus has long been celebrated as the most efficient safeguard of the liberty of the subject...

... Blackstone cites the first recorded usage of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum in 1305, during the reign of King Edward I. However, other writs were issued with the same effect as early as the reign of Henry II in the 12th century. Blackstone explained the basis of the writ, saying:

“ The King is at all times entitled to have an account, why the liberty of any of his subjects is restrained, wherever that restraint may be inflicted. ”

The procedure for the issuing of writs of habeas corpus was first codified by the Habeas Corpus Act 1679, following judicial rulings which had restricted the effectiveness of the writ. A previous act had been passed in 1640 to overturn a ruling that the command of the King was a sufficient answer to a petition of habeas corpus.

So the codified basic tenet of justice that one may have one's day in court predates the birth of our country by over a century, and in practice by a couple more. Through every war that the United States have engaged in, begining with the Revolution, this principle has been in place. At no time in the past has it endangered our safety.

Justice Kennedy said as much in his majority opinion:
The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law.

The dissenting opinion from Scalia is stunning:
The game of bait-and-switch that today's opinion plays upon the nation's commander in chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed. That consequence would be tolerable if necessary to preserve a time-honored legal principle vital to our constitutional republic. But it is this court's blatant abandonment of such a principle that produces the decision today...

...The nation will live to regret what the court has done today.

I don't think so.

Naturally, poor Bush is upset that the checks and balances of a trialateral government system sometimes doesn't allow him to get his way. He pouted:
"We'll abide by the court's decision," Bush said during a news conference in Rome. "That doesn't mean I have to agree with it."...

"It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented," Bush said. "And that dissent was based upon their serious concerns about U.S. national security."

Bush said his administration will study the ruling. "We'll do this with this in mind — to determine whether or not additional legislation might be appropriate so we can safely say to the American people, 'We're doing everything we can to protect you.'"

Additional leglislation? Where does he think THAT'S going to come from? There is absolutely no way the Democratic-led congress is going to create any legislation to restrict human rights. Bush is just going to have to suck it up, and realize even the kings in medieval times didn't have the power he wants.

One additional thing this ruling DOES point out is just how important the upcoming election is. How different would this have turned out if McCain had appointed a justice to the court? The reactions by the candidates themselves tells that story:
In a campaign dominated by the economy and the Iraq War, the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling Thursday on detainees at Guantanamo marks a forceful reminder that John McCain promises one course and Barack Obama pledges another in picking future justices.

In the current controversy, McCain quickly expressed his disapproval of the opinion, while Obama issued a statement of support. It fell to outsiders to point out the broader implications in the race for the White House.

"With the replacement of a single justice from the majority ... today's four dissenters could become tomorrow's majority," said Nan Aron of the Alliance For Justice. The group supported the court's decision, which said detainees in the war on terror held at Guantanamo have the constitutional right to challenge their incarceration in the federal courts.

Security must exist "in fidelity to freedom's first principles," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for a majority seeking to balance the nation's security needs with individual rights enshrined in the Constitution. He went on to criticize the Bush administration and Congress for yielding too much to the former at the expense of the latter.

Of the five justices who created a majority in the case of the Guantanamo detainees, Justice John Paul Stevens is 88, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75, and David Souter and Stephen Breyer are each 69. Kennedy is 71.

Our very Constitution - not safety from terrorists - is at stake here, and this case proves it. McCain CANNOT win in November.


 

283 comments (Latest Comment: 06/14/2008 03:32:23 by Mondobubba)
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Comments:

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Comment by TriSec on 06/13/2008 13:01:40
'tis a happy morning here in the Hub...



TriSec is fairly stunned. (but I still have beautiful plumage.)





Comment by Scoopster on 06/13/2008 13:06:17
What. A. Game.



That's all I got, Tri. Kinda makes up for going to bed late and getting to work a half hour late.

Comment by m-hadley on 06/13/2008 13:08:18
Great Post BobR,

Happy Friday the 13th Everybody! :coffee:

Stay safe.

Cheers,

mfaye :P



Comment by Scoopster on 06/13/2008 13:08:26
First thing you see this morning when you open up DailyKos... heh



http://images.dailykos.com/images/user/3/mccaindumbinternetnd8.jpg


Comment by TriSec on 06/13/2008 13:12:50
John McCain is an Abba fan?



I rest my case.

Comment by Raine on 06/13/2008 13:22:23
Good morning! I am gonna miss the first half of momma today.. :kickcan:



Why are you stunned Tri?? Whaddeye miss?

Comment by Raine on 06/13/2008 13:23:15
Oh, yeah... the basketball game!

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 13:23:43
Morning all! 'Nother day off............. slept in. Would still be in bed if it weren't for the dog howling for her walk.



yap, yap, yap.............

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:35:49
Bon matin mes amis.



The harder it is for me to get up, the more I wish I had a normal schedule.

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 13:39:14
Quote by livingonli:

Bon matin mes amis.



The harder it is for me to get up, the more I wish I had a normal schedule.




Well, I must admit, that I sometimes............ sometimes miss the long hours, late nights and stale coffee in the dark, musty theater; where you never know what time it is, or if its still light outside!

:lol:



I rarely miss the long, boring hours on the film sets. Too much food and time to kill makes me too fat!

:wacko:



Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:41:39
Bush is speaking in Paris.



Can someone please pelt him with a rotten tomato.

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:42:53
Quote by velveeta jones:

Quote by livingonli:

Bon matin mes amis.



The harder it is for me to get up, the more I wish I had a normal schedule.




Well, I must admit, that I sometimes............ sometimes miss the long hours, late nights and stale coffee in the dark, musty theater; where you never know what time it is, or if its still light outside!

:lol:



I rarely miss the long, boring hours on the film sets. Too much food and time to kill makes me too fat!

:wacko:



The craft services truck is not your friend.

Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 13:44:47
Morning :hug:

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 13:45:21
Aunt Azalea is on a RANT!! And she has some very interesting insights. I am trying to get her to write this Sunday's blog post as a guest. But having trouble.



Comment by Shane-O on 06/13/2008 13:50:20




(Dang - I never thought I'd have ocassion to use that drop again!)

Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 13:50:22
Please if we reached out any farther we'd be stretch armstong.

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:50:30
Good morning Mala.

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 13:50:42
STOP THE ABBA!!!



http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/violent009.gif


Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:52:17
Quote by velveeta jones:

Aunt Azalea is on a RANT!! And she has some very interesting insights. I am trying to get her to write this Sunday's blog post as a guest. But having trouble.



She has to come out of her shell and let the world know how she's feel.

Comment by TriSec on 06/13/2008 13:53:41
*sigh*



A Tuba is a bass instrument; you play chords and pedals and there is little contribution to the melody, owing to the instrument's limited range.



A Bari Sax, on the other hand, has a much greater range, and in the proper hands it is not a pedal/chord instrument and may be used to solo or even play lead, depending on the tune.



Harry Carney and Gerry Mulligan are noted practitioners of this craft.

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 13:56:33
Why don't we just blow up Alaska and drill to our hearts content!?! Frankly, we could use a bit more blue space in the Union Blue part of the flag!



:rofl:

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:56:56
Sean Hannity is the living, breathing talking point. Zombies won't eat his brains because there's nothing to pick out.

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 13:59:28
On Rotten Tomatoes, the Incredible Hulk got 72% while the Happening only got 22%.

Comment by Shane-O on 06/13/2008 13:59:31
Quote by TriSec:

*sigh*



A Tuba is a bass instrument; you play chords and pedals and there is little contribution to the melody, owing to the instrument's limited range.



A Bari Sax, on the other hand, has a much greater range, and in the proper hands it is not a pedal/chord instrument and may be used to solo or even play lead, depending on the tune.



Harry Carney and Gerry Mulligan are noted practitioners of this craft.




And Steven "The Funky Doctor" Kupka...



Comment by Scoopster on 06/13/2008 14:01:16
Wow 'veeta where'd you find that emoticon!

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 14:06:46
Yikes! Susan Atkins getting out?



:wacko:



As I recall, she was the one that said she had so much fun stabbing the bodies, that it was no different than stabbing pillows.



:puke:



The "mean part" of me wants to say, "die quickly bitch"............ but I won't say it!





Comment by Random on 06/13/2008 14:07:05
Ha...Ha...



I know i had something important to say. Damn...I forgot it.

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 14:08:03
Quote by Scoopster:

Wow 'veeta where'd you find that emoticon!






FreeSmileys.org Violent page............ my favorite! :lol:

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 14:12:10
Scoopster, this one is a tad twisted though:



http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/violent029.gif


Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 14:13:42
the Doors one was funny

Comment by BobR on 06/13/2008 14:18:31
Quote by TriSec:

*sigh*



A Tuba is a bass instrument; you play chords and pedals and there is little contribution to the melody, owing to the instrument's limited range.



A Bari Sax, on the other hand, has a much greater range, and in the proper hands it is not a pedal/chord instrument and may be used to solo or even play lead, depending on the tune.



Harry Carney and Gerry Mulligan are noted practitioners of this craft.


:huh: How do you play chords on a brass instrument?



And what's this about "pedals"?... is that what the button thingies are called?



Comment by TriSec on 06/13/2008 14:18:38
Ha!



http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/sw022.gif


Comment by TriSec on 06/13/2008 14:20:08
OK, maybe 'roots' would be a better term.



The Pedal would be the bass key an octave below. I can't play it on my horn (high brass) but the low brass sounds in the bass clef, or in the case of the tuba, an octave below it. (or the pedal).





Comment by Random on 06/13/2008 14:36:52
...the SMS Live blog is a scary place.

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 14:39:37
Quote by Random:

...the SMS Live blog is a scary place.


Don't worry, it's only Donnie's Hamster.

Comment by Random on 06/13/2008 14:41:10
Quote by livingonli:

Quote by Random:

...the SMS Live blog is a scary place.


Don't worry, it's only Donnie's Hamster.


you do know that's a fack Donnie right? the website is wrong.

Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 14:41:53
Hey swiped these from Democratic Underground but I could get them to show up here so heres a link instead





fist bump 1







fist bump 2

Comment by Random on 06/13/2008 14:49:20
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/Wicked_Pam/Fistbump-2.gif


Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 14:51:02
Quote by Random:

Quote by livingonli:

Quote by Random:

...the SMS Live blog is a scary place.


Don't worry, it's only Donnie's Hamster.


you do know that's a fack Donnie right? the website is wrong.


The fake Donnie has resulted in a Donnie pile-on.

Comment by Random on 06/13/2008 14:54:42
Quote by livingonli:

Quote by Random:

Quote by livingonli:

Quote by Random:

...the SMS Live blog is a scary place.


Don't worry, it's only Donnie's Hamster.


you do know that's a fack Donnie right? the website is wrong.


The fake Donnie has resulted in a Donnie pile-on.


I like it. He's kind of duped half the board.

Comment by Mondobubba on 06/13/2008 14:56:49
Morning Mon peeps.

Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 14:57:56
Quote by Random:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/Wicked_Pam/Fistbump-2.gif




Thank you - I'm having issues...



Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 14:58:36
Hey Mondo

Comment by livingonli on 06/13/2008 15:00:21
Good morning Mondo.

Comment by Random on 06/13/2008 15:04:56
Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Random:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/Wicked_Pam/Fistbump-2.gif




Thank you - I'm having issues...



I'm trying to make it my lil name avi...thingie.

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 15:05:25
Cool! Fist bumps, I'm adding them and using them on those "other" boards were RW trolls are ever-present.



BTW my friends (snicker, its hard to use that, with McCain saying it all the time). As most of you know, I'm a Disaster Relief volunteer with the ARC and I am on standby to be sent out for the floods/tornados.



I'll let you know, but if I go, I'll be gone for at least 3 weeks.

Comment by wickedpam on 06/13/2008 15:07:11
Quote by Random:

Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Random:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/Wicked_Pam/Fistbump-2.gif




Thank you - I'm having issues...



I'm trying to make it my lil name avi...thingie.




I think it has to be added to our emoticons first - not sure though



Comment by velveeta jones on 06/13/2008 15:07:32
Quote by Random:

Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Random:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/Wicked_Pam/Fistbump-2.gif




Thank you - I'm having issues...



I'm trying to make it my lil name avi...thingie.


Bobber will have to add them to the 'cons on the left.



Comment by Scoopster on 06/13/2008 15:08:22
VA denies Afghanistan vet disability, cites reason as MEMBERSHIP IN VOTEVTES.ORG



:rage:



Edit: Need more anger.

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage:

:rage: :rage: