Suspend habeas corpus?!! Time to gather at Runnymeade once again

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/20/19237/9278

ACTION: SAVE THE GREAT WRIT - BOTH the McCain and Bush versions of the bill suspend habeas corpus, the right dating back to the Magna Carta (1215) not to be locked up indefinately at the president's whim. This is breathtaking in its implications for a free society. The Center for Constitutional Rights is urging everyone to use this link to contact their Senators today to save this 800 year old protection of human rights, the linchpin of freedom and liberty. This is an emergency. Act now.

Doesn't get any more basic than habeas corpus.

(Runnymeade is where the English knights forced King John to accept the concept of habeas corpus in the Magna Carta)

[eleny]

1. Done

[KamaAina]

2. Habeas corpus has been suspended once in the history of the U.S.

by Abraham Lincoln.

At the height of the Civil War.

Do they really expect us to believe that this nebulous War on Terra calls for the sorts of emergency measures enacted -- reluctantly -- during a crisis in which the very existence of the republic was at stake?!

On second thought, I think they do. :grr:

[rug]

3. Time to gather at the Winter Palace.

[flyarm]

4. done and sent out to all my email groups..and NJ dem web site..n/t

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. Thanks, here is the direct link (from the Kos post)

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/ccr/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5215
Defend the Great Writ
Dear Friend of CCR,

The fight over the military commissions bills today isn’t about politics, it’s about lives, and it’s not over. Please take a minute from your busy day to help, even if you acted last week.

The debate around these bills misses the point: both versions strip away the fundamental right to habeas corpus, the right to challenge your detention in a court of law, not to be locked up under the President’s say-so, guilty or innocent, never to be heard from again.

An amendment in play could take out this dangerous measure – please use our site to fax your senators and tell them to support the Specter-Levin Amendment on habeas corpus when it gets introduced. The bills are S.3901, The Military Commissions Act of 2006, sponsored by Senator Warner and S.3861, The Bringing Terrorists to Justice Act of 2006, sponsored by Senator Frist. Please call your Senators at [phone] IMMEDIATELY, especially if they are among the 26 we’ve identified below as critical in this fight.

Anyone in U.S. custody, at home or abroad, must have the right to challenge their detention in court. Nothing is more fundamental to our democracy than this right. Tell your Senator TODAY that they must vote to save habeas corpus.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. kick! Nothing more important than this! nt.