Gitmo
So I've been away for a while -- note the change to my profile for one reason. Another is that Google kept $&*#ing up my user account. But this issue has pissed me off enough (and its coverage is brief enough) to spur me to action.
So, what's the debate about Guantanamo Bay? As I've said elsewhere, the Constitution is clearly best understood as proscribing the actions of the federal government: if it doesn't say the federal government can do something, the federal government can't do it. I've also pointed out that the Constitution doesn't specify, with regard to habeas corpus or the Bill of Rights, whether those rights apply to citizens or non-citizens, on U.S. soil or off it. That's because it's a restriction on federal government action, not a delineation (or proscription) of the rights of Americans.
Aside from the fact that, you know, it's the Constitution, the highest law in the land, there's also are good reasons not to play these semantic games. One is that it is the federal government that defines you as a citizen or a non-citizen, so to say that non-citizens have no civil rights, et al., is the same as saying that nobody has these rights: because all the federal government has to do to deprive you of due process is say you're not a citizen ("enemy combatant" anyone?). The other is that Americans travel, and there's no reason that the government couldn't wait until, say, you left the country to grab you and lock you away in the black hole of secret government prisons.
So no matter what the Supreme Court says, the detention without trial of prisoners at Guantanamo is a violation of the Constitution. No matter what legislation Congress tries to pass, the detention without trial of prisoners at Guantanamo is a violation of the Constitution. No matter what President Bush says -- well, you get the picture. The federal government can't detain individuals without proving that they have violated U.S. law according to due process, no matter who they are or where the detention takes place. At least until Congress and the state legislatures pass a Constitutional Amendment to change that fact, and when that happens, everyone can be a government detainee.
So, what's the debate about Guantanamo Bay? As I've said elsewhere, the Constitution is clearly best understood as proscribing the actions of the federal government: if it doesn't say the federal government can do something, the federal government can't do it. I've also pointed out that the Constitution doesn't specify, with regard to habeas corpus or the Bill of Rights, whether those rights apply to citizens or non-citizens, on U.S. soil or off it. That's because it's a restriction on federal government action, not a delineation (or proscription) of the rights of Americans.
Aside from the fact that, you know, it's the Constitution, the highest law in the land, there's also are good reasons not to play these semantic games. One is that it is the federal government that defines you as a citizen or a non-citizen, so to say that non-citizens have no civil rights, et al., is the same as saying that nobody has these rights: because all the federal government has to do to deprive you of due process is say you're not a citizen ("enemy combatant" anyone?). The other is that Americans travel, and there's no reason that the government couldn't wait until, say, you left the country to grab you and lock you away in the black hole of secret government prisons.
So no matter what the Supreme Court says, the detention without trial of prisoners at Guantanamo is a violation of the Constitution. No matter what legislation Congress tries to pass, the detention without trial of prisoners at Guantanamo is a violation of the Constitution. No matter what President Bush says -- well, you get the picture. The federal government can't detain individuals without proving that they have violated U.S. law according to due process, no matter who they are or where the detention takes place. At least until Congress and the state legislatures pass a Constitutional Amendment to change that fact, and when that happens, everyone can be a government detainee.
posted by heavynettle at 10:05
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