ACLU Cheers DOD Amendment Restoring Habeas Corpus Due Process Rights

“Today’s vote was a victory for those seeking to restore both the rule of law and our nation’s Constitution,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “The Military Commissions Act of 2006 stripped away one of our most fundamental rights - to challenge your imprisonment by the government. While the amendment ultimately was not filibuster proof, a majority of senators have made it clear that they want to restore the right of habeas corpus. The ACLU has worked diligently, leading a coalition of support for the restoration of habeas corpus. That tireless work is beginning to pay off and will be vindicated once habeas is signed back into law.”

The MCA stripped the constitutional right to habeas corpus from persons the president alone designates as enemy combatants. It allows our government to continue to hold hundreds of prisoners indefinitely at places like Guantanamo Bay, without ever charging them or giving them their day in court. The MCA was pushed through Congress just weeks ahead of the midterm elections in 2006.