Habeas Corpus 2.0

As many members of the ACLU family know, the ACLU has been sponsoring a brand new website and campaign for the past two or so months to restore habeas corpus and due process rights for many of the detainees held post-9/11. Under the Military Commission Act, passed stealthily in the waning days of the last Congress, Republican lawmakers purported to strip all independent review of convictions under the military commissions established to try those held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. As many members of the ACLU family know, the ACLU has been sponsoring a brand new website and campaign for the past two or so months to restore habeas corpus and due process rights for many of the detainees held post-9/11. Under the Military Commission Act, passed stealthily in the waning days of the last Congress, Republican lawmakers purported to strip all independent review of convictions under the military commissions established to try those held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

The ACLU's campaign is twofold. First, we've sent a call out to all of you to literally "find" Mr. Habeas Corpus, a dour little fellow who has been missing since that fateful vote in late 2006. Already, we've had dozens of sightings all around the country. Surprisingly, a large majority of these sightings have been around famous American historical landmarks, like the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty and Mount Vernon. Go figure.

The second part of our campaign is more serious. At findhabeas.com, you can find the latest news and analysis on these issues at our habeas blog, written by yours truly, Gabe Rottman. Though we're attempting to lighten the tone with our findhabeas campaign, the topic is grave. If you'll bear with me, I'll quote from the inaugural post on the blog:

We aim to entertain, but entertainment is only the sweetener that makes that the deadly serious nature of this topic palatable. Our primary goal is to inform, and to do so about something that is no laughing matter.

Remember, what is habeas corpus, the only ancient common law writ enshrined in the Constitution? It is nothing less than the last resort for those for whom the system has gone haywire. It is the primary bulwark against arbitrary executive detention. It is an integral feature of our dare-I-say-sacred system of checks and balances. It says to the president: "sure, lock these folks up and throw away the key, but we're going to have independent courts looking over your shoulder, keeping you honest."

In short, it's heady stuff — it's life and death. We won't ever forget that.