Dems In House & Senate & Key Repubs Will Attempt To Restore Habeas Corpus Rights

[kpete]

Democrats to revisit detainee issues
December 28, 2006

Story Highlights
• Democrats to use majorities in House, Senate to address detainee laws
• Key Republicans -- Specter, Snowe -- likely to join in
• Right of habeas corpus will be primary focus

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats plan to use their newfound power to revisit one of the most contentious national security matters of 2006: Deciding what legal rights must be protected for detainees held in the war on terrorism.

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But Specter, R-Pennsylvania, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, say a disturbing provision left in the bill specifically prohibits a detainee from protesting his detention in court. This provision barring habeas corpus petitions means that only detainees selected for trial by the military are able to confront charges against them, leaving a vast majority of the estimated 14,000 military detainees in custody without a chance to plead their case.

"I think the courts are going to declare that part of the legislation unconstitutional," Specter said in an interview this month.

Leahy and other Democrats, led by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, have another proposal that would go much further by eliminating other provisions of the White House bill. Among other things, Dodd's legislation would specifically bar coerced statements as testimony and limit the president's authority in interpreting international standards for prisoner treatment.

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While the charge to revise the bill is expected to be led by the Senate, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also may want to take another look at it. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said House Democrats "have a number of concerns about whether the bill is constitutional, and the impact that it will have on the treatment accorded our troops if they are captured in combat."

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