Gonzales and Habeas Corpus

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday. After hearing what this smirking piece of crap said about how he views habeas corpus, there is no longer any doubt how this administration views YOUR Constitutional rights... they don't exist. From Consortium News Gonzales Questions Habeas Corpus By Robert Parry January 19, 2007 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. “You may be treading on your interdiction of violating common sense,” Specter said. While Gonzales’s statement has a measure of quibbling precision to it, his logic is troubling because it would suggest that many other fundamental rights that Americans hold dear also don’t exist because the Constitution often spells out those rights in the negative. Read More: Consortium News To hear the testimony between Sen. Specter and Attorney General Gonzales, click here: Hearing and scroll to about 23 minutes into the segment.