The end of habeas corpus is near, citizens--bill in House and Senate.

[blondeatlast]

This is no exaggeration or joke, either--the bastards are serious.

The "Streamlined Procedures" Act

(snip)

Habeas corpus is the age-old legal process by which federal courts review the legality of detentions. In the modern era, it has been the pivotal vehicle through which those on death row or serving long sentences in prison can challenge their state-court convictions. Congress in 1996 rolled back habeas review considerably; federal courts have similarly shown greater deference -- often too much deference -- to flawed state proceedings. But the so-called Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005 takes the evisceration of habeas review, particularly in capital cases, to a whole new level. It should not become law.

For a great many capital cases, the bill would eliminate federal review entirely. Federal courts would be unable to review almost all capital convictions from states certified by the Justice Department as providing competent counsel to convicts to challenge their convictions under state procedures. Although the bill, versions of which differ slightly between the chambers, provides a purported exception for cases in which new evidence completely undermines a conviction, this is drawn so narrowly that it is likely to be useless -- even in identifying cases of actual innocence.

(more)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/09/AR2005070900951.html?referrer=emailarticle


In the Senate: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:5:./temp/~c1097QMSIa::


In the House: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:1:./temp/~c109Fe6xVp::

Edit: spelling.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Oh good lord

[blondeatlast]

2. That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

I actually laughed at the bill's title, "Streamlined Procedures Act."

At least they've given us fair warning of their main selling point.
Good Lord, indeed.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. And the vast majority of the public won't care. "Good riddance to

bad criminals", they'll say. It won't be until their kids and grandkids are wrongfully incarcerated with no way out that they'll sit back and howl.

[thinkingwoman]

6. the vast majority won't know about it

until it is too late. They all rely on MSM for their news.

[wli]

4. martial law etc.

Suspending the writ of habeas corpus is one aspect of such IIRC.

[whatever4]

5. Now I contrast this

With what I wrote for another thread that seems to have been locked, the one about the prisoners that escaped in Afghanistan. That thread was locked it seems, don't know why, but after I wrote those words and read this, it sent a real chill

I had just written:

It's sad that they may have been dangerous terrorists, but that in an inhumane prison environment, where they are accorded no rights aside from the bare minimum for public show, it's hard to feel badly that they escaped. I'd *much* rather it were innocent people that escaped, taken by mistake and then grilled unreasonably, insanely, and grotesquely, but even were they the most dangerous of all terrorists, it's hard for me to agree with jailing them indefinitely, with no charges, and then subject them to random acts of torture. Even for criminals. It's not justice. And if it's not justice, what is it? A temporary measure for the war on terrorism...a war that, by their own definition, has no end in sight?

The fools absolutely refuse to connect the two concepts...temporary letting go of human rights which isn't "temporary" at all. And along with that, we are taking their word that these were "dangerous terrorists". They generally say most of them are, but other experts disagree, and say just the opposite, that most captives are NOT dangerous terrorists. Many are just "picked up". From their homes. In the dead of night, at gunpoint. Sometimes, if they weren't home, their NEIGHBORS were taken, because they had to have "known" something. Can ANYTHING sound more horrible than that? And THEN to be put in one of those prisons?? Unreal. Unsupportable.

They say these were dangerous terrorists? What is more dangerous than what we have done to many of them?? NO, I don't sympathize with monsters, but I'll be damned if I'll hide my head in the sand over torture. I WAS military. I AM outraged by what they have encouraged/allowed/forced our soldiers to do in those prisons. Anyone escapes? Well, who could blame them???

All is NOT fair in love and war. Torture is UNACCEPTABLE. Those escaping it should be seen as human beings, NOT just as enemies against whom we feel free and justified in extracting our vengeance in ways large and small. That isn't even war. THAT mentality is just evil. THAT is nazis.

[blondeatlast]

13. But the American people just know that nothing like that could ever happen

here.

I think that is a huge part of our problem with our agenda--people don't want to believe that a police state is emerging, that we are becoming a dictatorship.

That happens over there--not in Los Angeles, or Omaha, or Bangor. :sarcas: of course.

I'm not even particularly left by DU standards, but the assault on the Constitution terrifies me.

[thinkingwoman]

7. Funny how Terri Schiavo deserved

"her day in court" (which was total bs) but people scheduled for execution do not. Great country these fascists imagine.


edited to make county into country. slight diff.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. I guess we could let them have a county or two, but we reserve the right

to smuggle innocents (liberals) out of there.

[thinkingwoman]

17. a DU Railroad?

I'm up for it. ;-)

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. Well that was the plan if the bue states seceded, but a lot of red state

liberals want to stay and fight the good fight. So we'll have to ship in support even as we get emigrants out. ;)

[blondeatlast]

19. This red state liberal thanks you. My fucking (I seldom use that word)

senator Kyl introduced it in the Senate.

I'm going to work to defeat his sorry, Bunnyclone ass out even harder than I worked for Kerry.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. Good luck and give a shout out here at DU if ya need help

[blondeatlast]

9. Trying to find some links, here's a start:

This looks like a good site to keep an eye on the Congress Critters:

The Focus section makes a return this week with a "stealth" habeas bill making its way through Congress that would eviscerate federal review in most capital cases and severely restrict the ability to grant relief in noncapital cases. Senators Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have introduced the “Streamlined Procedures Act” in the Senate, S. 1088, and Representative Dan Lungren (R-CA) has introduced H.R. 3035, the companion bill, in the House. Rather than repeating someone else's work below, find below instead the text of the new legislation as it alone makes the point. There are several other "stealth" habeas jurisdiction stripping bills in Congress, for example barring habeas relief for any person convicted of killing a child, so be aware. At the moment there is reason to believe that this bill will not pass, however, this is the most serious attempt since the passage of the AEDPA to gut habeas. Make sure to keep informed through such sources here, NACDL, the Sentencing Blog and Talkleft.
http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/

Nothing here quite yet (bills were introduced June 22, 2005), but looks like a good site to watch:
http://nacdl.org/public.nsf/freeform/publicwelcome?opendocument

Edit: it looks like it's basically a way to streamline executions, according to what I've read. God have mercy.

[OneBlueSky]

10. so is THIS where we draw the line? . . .

we've let our representatives in Congress slide on virtually every aspect of the BushCo agenda that has been pushed through with their support . . . the war, the bankruptcy bill, the budget, etc. . . is this where we finally say to them "ENOUGH! If you vote for this, we will NOT support you for re-election!" . . .

(sigh) . . . probably not . . . :banghead:

(but then again . . . maybe stopping this bill from becoming law could be the first project of the DU Activist Corps) . . .

[blondeatlast]

11. I have suggested it yesterday, give it a push, if you would.

Here's the link to the DU Activist post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=17363&mesg_id=17383

[blondeatlast]

12. Bills were introed on June 22, 2005, so apparently the word is still

getting out.

If anyioone finds more links, can you post them here?

So far, not much luck--ACLU has nothing at present.

[msongs]

14. and how many elected democrats are gonna support this? n/t

[blondeatlast]

15. None, if we do our jobs as citizens as we should. nt

[blondeatlast]

16. The Thomas links are bad and I can't seem to find any that work.

If interested, I suggest you go to the Thomas homepage:
http://thomas.loc.gov/

and type in the bill's title as a keyword: streamlined procedures

[mourningdove92]

21. bump

:kick:

[mourningdove92]

22. bump

[blondeatlast]

23. I guess I'm shameless when it comes to the innocent people ebing executed.

:kick: