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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A disgusting vote from our Senators today

I can hardly believe what I'm reading but both Senators Roy Blunt AND Claire McCaskill voted today in the Senate to authorize the indefinite suspension of habeus corpus. I am so disgusted at this news--and at both of them--I can hardly speak. For a refresher, habeus corpus is Latin for "you may have the body". In the law, it "is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention... It has historically been an important legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action. It is a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge." The writ oh habeus corpus has long been a strong underpinning of our judicial system so people would not be held indefinitely, without being charged with some crime so they could defend themselves. That these two--and 59 other--senators would vote in favor of maintaining this is, I think, unconscionable. Fortunately, regardless of the outcome in Congress, President Obama has vowed to veto it. Here's hoping it fails completely, utterly, as it should. It should be pointed out that habeus corpus was first done away with, to set this up, in the George W. Bush administration, no surprise, what with their paranoia and disregard for the Constitution. Links: http://wearechangetv.us/2011/11/61-senators-betrayed-you-today-they-authorized-the-indefinite-suspension-of-habeus-corpus/#ixzz1fDOeH9Wg; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/senate-votes-to-let-military-detain-americans-indefinitely_n_1119473.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeus_corpus

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