Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this amendment asserts that it intends to protect the right of habeas corpus, which is to say the right to get into court. But the problem is not habeas. It's not the right to get into court. That is granted by the Constitution. The problem is what you can assert once you get into court. It says nothing about that. It says nothing about the circumstances in which individuals might actually be subject to military detention when arrested within the territory of the United States. It's actually dangerous. It narrows constitutional rights because it narrows the scope of the statutory habeas corpus protection to individuals lawfully in the United States when detained as opposed to those detained in the United States. Someone with questionable immigration status might not have any habeas rights under this amendment. Secondly, as Mr. Amash pointed out, by saying that you can file it not later than 30 days, it could be read to say that, unlike current law where you can file habeas the moment you're detained, you have to wait 30 days, or you might not be able to file after 30 days. So it's an affirmatively dangerous amendment. It narrows the right to habeas corpus, and it doesn't do anything to protect the real problem here, which is not habeas. That was never the problem. The real problem is the right of detention, when you get into court through habeas and the court says, You have no rights, because indefinite detention is permitted.…”