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henny -> RE: Failing to protect those who can't protect themselves???????? (5/17/2008 7:57:49 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: davemiller7 The Constitution has everything to do with this! Without the Constitution, there wouldn't be a habeas corpus writ, unless we adopted some form of English law. I repeat, we have moral obligations as a Christian nation, but none legally to provide enemy combatants with our hard earned constitutional rights. Habeas corpus predates the constitution. Although you are right in that there really is nothing that would make us apply it in this case, except for the Geneva convention (Although even that only is enforcable only if we agree to enforce it, and the Administration opted out of that in the cases of terrorists, so even that doesn't technically apply). But simply because we don't have to apply it doesn't mean we shouldn't. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want habeus corpus to apply in this case. I don't think it would limit our ability to prosecute the ones who deserve it, just as it would go a short way in helping us ensure that we don't end up detaining those who are innocent. I'm not arguing that terrorists should have all of the same rights gauranteed to citizens under the constititution (I haven't suggested anything of the sort, actually), I merely disagree with the administration's original claim that it could do what it wanted with the prisoners without answering to anyone legally, justifying to anyone (even an agency within the military) why they were being held, or giving the prisoners any means of appeal. As I said before, I don't see how anyone, liberal or conservative, would not find this disturbing, just because there's huge potential for the abuse of power here. Just as it creates an environment where mistakes can't be corrected if they are made (and again, I point to the examples of prisoners at Gitmo who were held, sometimes for a period of years, and sometimes for a period even after the army had already determined they were innocent, and then released with no explaination). The supreme court actually ended up ruling against the Bush administration on this. They said that while the Geneva convention does not apply, the administration still had to do certain basic things (which includes implementing some form of habeas corpus) to ensure that the prisoners do not fall off the map, legally speaking. I don't know what your definition of "moral obligation as a Christian nation" is, but I would think it would include treating our enemies in a "just" and "humane" manner, which would include allowing them some form of recourse if we (as humans) make a mistake and detain someone who is innocent. I don't think the Bush administration's original policy on Gitmo did any of this.
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