Our hideously twisted "leadership" thinks civil rights are optional
bush, cheney, rove, addington, hadley, gonzales... these men now form the heart of darkness in the bush administration... the fact that alberto has the unmitigated gall to make this argument is yet another sign of how very deeply evil is entrenched in the twisted leadership provided by the white house...
as parry rightly notes, it's enough to make your blood run cold...
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In another sign of President George W. Bush's disdain for America's "unalienable rights," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales argued before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Constitution does not explicitly grant Americans habeas corpus rights to a fair trial.
Challenging two centuries of established legal opinion, Gonzales quibbled over the fact that the Constitution simply bars habeas corpus from being suspended except in extraordinary circumstances.
Gonzales's comment suggests that Bush and his lawyers still see American rights as optional.
as parry rightly notes, it's enough to make your blood run cold...
In one of the most chilling public statements ever made by a U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales questioned whether the U.S. Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American.
Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn’t explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended.
“There is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution; there’s a prohibition against taking it away,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales’s remark left Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican, stammering.
“Wait a minute,” Specter interjected. “The Constitution says you can’t take it away except in case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there’s a rebellion or invasion?”
Gonzales continued, “The Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn’t say that. It simply says the right shall not be suspended” except in cases of rebellion or invasion.
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posted by profmarcus at
1/19/2007
