Patrick Leahy: “on the first day of this new Congress, I join Senator Specter to reintroduce a bill to restore the Great Writ of habeas…”

“on the first day of this new Congress, I join Senator Specter to reintroduce a bill to restore the Great Writ of habeas corpus, a cornerstone of American liberty since the founding of this Nation. The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 bill continues our efforts to amend last year's Military Commissions Act, to right a wrong and to restore a basic protection to American law. This is an issue on which we continue to work together and urge Senators on both sides of the aisle to join with us. As Justice Scalia wrote in the Hamdi case: ``The very core of liberty secured by our Anglo-Saxon system of separated powers has been freedom from indefinite imprisonment at the will of the Executive.'' The remedy that secures that most basic of freedoms is habeas corpus. It provides a check against arbitrary detentions and constitutional violations. It guarantees an opportunity to go to court, with the aid of a lawyer, to prove one's innocence. This fundamental protection was rolled back in an unprecedented and unnecessary way in the run up to last fall's election by passage of the Military Commissions Act. The Military Commissions Act eliminated that right, permanently, for any non-citizen determined to be an enemy combatant, or even ``awaiting'' such a determination. That includes the approximately 12 million lawful permanent residents in the United States today, people who work and pay taxes in America and are lawful residents.…”