Of the many good things we are beginning to see before the newly-constituted Democratic Congress even assumes power, one of the most gratifying is the move by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) to neuter the hideous Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), passed by the Republicans, and signed by George W. Bush in October.
On Friday, Dodd introduced legislation to amend Bush's "torture bill," remove the almost-dictatorial powers it has given the White House and neutralize the bastardizing effect it's had on the United States Constitution.
"I strongly believe that terrorists who seek to destroy America must be punished for any wrongs they commit against this country," said Dodd, in introducing this important measure. "But in my view, in order to sustain America's moral authority and win a lasting victory against our enemies, such punishment must be meted out only in accordance with the rule of law."
The text of the MCA may fill almost 40 pages, but it only takes a few paragraphs of Dodd's 10-page Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act (S.4060) to render its most onerous aspects moot.
I analyzed Dodd's bill over the weekend and am writing this piece to give you the basics of how it fixes the Constitutional ruin imposed by the MCA and puts the power of the executive branch of government back in its rightful place.
This should tell you all you need to know about both the disease and the cure.
Restoring Habeas Corpus Protections
No area of the MCA has drawn more justifiable fire than the section suspending Habeas Corpus -- the rights of people deemed by the White House to be "enemy combatants" to challenge the legality of their arrest and detention.
Section 7 of the MCA says that "No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination."
In other words, don't bother calling a lawyer, because you have no rights.
The fact that so many of these enemy-combatant determinations rest in the president's hands and the sheer vagueness of the law, combine to create a wide variety of scenarios whereby any American citizen could be arrested and held indefinitely without Constitutional protections.
Scary stuff indeed and, as surgical as the Dodd amendment is in many ways, this area is dealt with via a repeal of that entire section, thus killing this debasement of our Constitution in one fell swoop.
"The Administration-backed law eliminates the principle of Habeas Corpus which has served as the backbone of common law since before the Magna Carta in the 13th century," said Dodd. "Under the writ of Habeas Corpus independent courts may review the legality of custody decisions. My legislation would restore this basic tenet in the context of military commissions."
And it does it with one short sentence -- "Section 7(a) of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, is repealed," reads Dodd's legislation.
Simple, to the point, and necessary to stopping the Founding Fathers from spinning in their graves.
Narrowing the Definition of 'Unlawful Enemy Combatant'
Here's a nice e-mail I just posted to my Senators here in California. Won't you please take a few minutes and post something to your Senators?
Thank you Bob for the bullet points and the great article. I am sorry that I forgot to credit you in the letters. I will do better in the future.
* * * * *
Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticutt introduced very important legislation, the Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act (S.4060), that would amend the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - Bush's torture bill.
Among other things, the Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act will do the following:
-Restore Habeas Corpus protections to detainees
-Narrow the definition of unlawful enemy combatant to individuals who directly participate in hostilities against the United States who are not lawful combatants
-Bar information gained through coercion from being introduced as evidence in trials
-Empower military judges to exclude hearsay evidence they deem to be unreliable
-Authorize the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to review decisions by the Military commissions
-Limit the authority of the President to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions and makes that authority subject to congressional and judicial oversight
-Provide for expedited judicial review of the Military Commissions Act to determine the constitutionally of its provisions
The Bush administration and the abusive republican majority leaving office must be rebuked for trashing seven centuries of the right to consult with a lawyer. Habeas Corpus must be restored. The definition of enemy combatant must be tightened to exclude non-combatants and American citizens peacefully working to change the wrong-headed belligerent direction forced on us by a war mongering (former) majority.
I appreciate your work to heal the many wounds and damage wrought by the Bush Administration and Republicans. Please work to aggressively investigate, indict, and prosecute those who have robbed the American people of their trust in a bipartisan system of government.
by
Tim Riley (7 articles, 5 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 148 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Nov 21, 2006 at 4:54:06 PM
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