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US Senate Fails To Reinstate Habeas Corpus
Khyber notes that yesterday a vote in the US Senate fell four votes short of what was needed to restore habeas corpus — the fundamental right of individauls to challenge government detention. Here is the record of the vote on the Cloture Motion to restore Habeas Corpus. Article 4 of the US Constitution states that habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless in cases of rebellion and invasion when the public safety may require it.
The only democrat who voted nay was Lieberman, who's not even a democrat any more. The problem is that the democrats don't have a 3/5 majority, even with 6 republicans voting outside their party. I think the people you need to be thanking about the republicans how stuck to their party line instead of doing what they know is right.
Right at the beginning...
"We the people of the United States of America" So where it says "the people" generally applies to citizens.
Yes there are some ambiguities that the courts have addressed (see MATHEWS v. DIAZ, 426 U.S. 67, for example), but just because it doesn't SAY "citizen" or "resident" or whatever doesn't mean it covers the world's population.
Obviously that "liberal media" we hear so much about.
Mod parent up, please (I'm using up mod points to post a followup). Here's a McClatchey story (with graphic), showing how bad the GOP filibuster threats have gotten. At the current rate, they will have forced cloture motions 153 times, three times the average over the past few years. All this to keep The Decider from having to take responsibility and veto something that the majority of US citizens approve of (like habeas corpus). While the reporting on these votes (including Webb's bill mandating more at-home time for troops serving in Iraq) is totally lame and misleading, I have to blame the Democrats for failing to make any stink about this at all. They need to be constantly harping about "obstructionist Republicans", etc. etc. Or, instead of just letting them threaten a filibuster, make them actually do it -- that would give the press a great story to report, and would force all these Republicans to explain how much they like torture, long tours of duty for soldiers, etc.