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Article: Gonzales needs lesson on habeas corpus
- Article from:
- Columbia Daily Tribune
- Article date:
- February 11, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Columbia Daily Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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At a Jan. 18 hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales actually said: "There is no express grant of
habeas" corpus "in the Constitution. ... The Constitution doesn't say
every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or
assured the right of habeas corpus."
He added that in the Constitution, "there's" only "a prohibition
against taking it away." So, if you're imprisoned, you are not
guaranteed, he claimed, the right to go to a court and have the
government prove the legality of your confinement.
This is an astonishing dismissal by our chief law enforcement
officer of the oldest fundamental right in Anglo-Saxon law that even
precedes the ...