William Chirolas -- World News Trust
Oct. 19, 2006 -- The U.S. Media are hiding the fact that the Military Commissions Act ended habeas corpus for U.S. citizens -- why?
As I read through today's reports of the Bush signing of the Military Commissions Act, I notices that papers like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Arizona Republic, etc hide the fact that we are all now under a dictator system rather than a democracy, having lost the Bill of rights by losing the right of Habeas corpus -- the most fundamental legal right since the year 1215. It is your right to go to a court and get an order requiring the government to prove that it is holding you in prison with proper legal authority to do so. And you and I no longer have that right.
The LA Times just notes that terrorists are without that habeas corpus right, but it does note that, "The rules do not affect most of the estimated 435 prisoners being held at the military prison in Cuba. Unless the military decides to bring charges, most of the detainees will remain in legal limbo, without the opportunity to challenge their status....").
The New York Times tries to pretend it only affects non-citizens: "... It also strips the federal courts of jurisdiction to hear petitions from non-citizens for writs of habeas corpus, effectively preventing detainees from going to court to challenge their confinement."
The Arizona Republic SAYS it only affects immigrants and non-citizens in the United States: "Although the debate about the law focused on trials at Guantanamo Bay, it also takes away the right to go to court for immigrants and non-citizens in the United States, including more than 12 million permanent residents, if they are declared "unlawful enemy combatants."
SO WHY THE COVER-UP BY THE MEDIA? There is the obvious fact that if a cop grabs you from your home and says your an enemy alien, and if enemy aliens can not go to court, that means you can not go to court to show that you are a citizen, because you now have all the rights of immigrants and non-citizens -- namely -- no rights. Without habeas corpus, there are no other rights.
There is also in the law a neat way for the government to avoid all those trial rights that are in all the other sections. Since you get those trial rights only after the government declares you to be an enemy combatant via a combatant status review tribunal (CSRT), and since there is no statutory requirement that the government ever utilize a CSRT, you are in jail forever if the government wants you to be there. You have no access to a civilian court, because the government determined you were an unlawful enemy combatant by some means other than using a CSRT.
If that is not a de facto suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, then logic has been removed from legal rulings. But do not hold your breath waiting for our right wing-controlled United States Supreme Court that broke the law to put Bush in the Presidency to see it that way and rule the Military Commission Act unconstitutional.
And don't hold your breath waiting to hear about violations of the provisions of the Military Commission Act, since no one labeled an alien can sue to enforce these provisions, and thus violations will never come to light.
If you like black humor and irony, you can look forward to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (who wrote in the Hamdan case that, "The very core of liberty secured by our Anglo-Saxon system of separated powers has been freedom from indefinite imprisonment at the will of the Executive.") voting to uphold the Military Commission Act and its ending of habeas corpus.
If you want to see that some folks actually noticed the death of the American Democracy, I recommend Keith Olbermann's commentary, with Professor Jonathan Turley, and perhaps more entertaining to those who can handle f-bomb swears, "Freedom is Under Attack" -- Henry Rollins.
Of course the usual suspects tried to protect our Constitution from Bush's planned destruction of our freedoms:
"With his signature, President Bush enacts a law that is both unconstitutional and un-American," said American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony Romero. "The president can now -- with the approval of Congress -- indefinitely hold people without charge, take away protections against horrific abuse, put people on trial based on hearsay evidence, authorize trials that can sentence people to death based on testimony literally beaten out of witnesses, and slam shut the courthouse door for habeas petitions.
Sen. Russ Feingold: "The legislation signed by the President today violates basic principles and values of our constitutional system of government. It allows the government to seize individuals on American soil and detain them indefinitely with no opportunity to challenge their detention in court. And the new law would permit an individual to be convicted on the basis of coerced testimony and even allow someone convicted under these rules to be put to death."
But just try to find those statements in the media reports on Oct. 17 and 18, 2006.
I just love our not- controlled- by- the- RW- rich- and- corporate- GOP, they- just- act- that- way, media.
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William Chirolas brings 40 years of real-world business experience in local, state, national, and international tax, pensions, and finance to the world of blogging. A graduate of MIT, he calls the Boston area home, except when visiting kids and grandkids. He can be reached at:
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