I know that I tend to repeat myself, but some policies must be attacked until they are changed. One of them is the section of the National Defense Authorization Act that allows the United States government to detain suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens, indefinitely without trial. The Act, supported overwhelmingly by Democrats and Republicans, thereby overturns habeas corpus protections that go back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
Here is what Rep. Jeff Landry, freshman Republican of Louisiana and member of the Tea Party Caucus said of this act: “Any statute that could possibly be interpreted to allow a president to detain American citizens without trial is incredibly alarming.” I couldn’t agree more.
The President himself issued a “signing statement” that said he had “serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.” He also promised not to use the provisions. That doesn’t help much--suppose Newt or Mitt or Ricky is our next president. (Ron Paul opposed the Act.)
When Dianne Feinstein introduced an amendment to exempt American citizens from the provision, it was rejected 45-55 with most Republicans voting no. GOP senators who backed Feinstein were Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Mark Kirk, Susan Collins, and Jerry Moran. Obviously quite a few Democrats also opposed Feinstein’s proposal.
No person, citizen or not, should be kept indefinitely in prison without trial. Habeas corpus rights should be universal, and even prisoners of war can expect eventual release when the war is over. The “War on Terror,” of course, seems to go on indefinitely.
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