HABEAS CORPUS, PLEASE. On the same day that Chris Dodd gave a notably rowdy speech at the SEIU Political Action Conference, he and Patrick Leahy announced that they would be introducing the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Last year's Military Commissions Act effectively stripped it away by giving the president the power to determine who qualifies as an "enemy of the country" and eliminating their right to due process.
The elimination of habeas corpus in last year's bill is pretty widely recognized as a problem that should be corrected, even by conservatives. It was rushed through before the November elections, and pretty much everyone who likes the Constitution has decided it's a bad idea. Now to do something about all the other problems with the Military Commissions Act...
--Kate Sheppard
