Habeas Corpus

[moragmacpherson]

It's a fine tradition -- first written into English Common Law in the Magna Carta, then enshrined into the Constitution of the United States in the Fourth Amendment.

The current Defense Spending Bill (which passed 93-7) has a passage which suspends the right of EVERYONE, citizens of the United States included, regardless of location -- so yes, even in this country -- until the "cessation of hostility."  Which in the case of The War On Terror* would be... well, it approaches infinity, so I'll just go with, this is permanent.  Two different senators, Sen. Udall (R-CO) and Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) proposed amendments which would remove this passage from the Defense Spending bill.  That's right: senators from both parties tried to get rid of this.  Sadly, their cohorts didn't feel the same way.  Here, from senate.gov, are the roll call sheets from both the Udall and Feinstein Amendments, senators listed by state. 

If you live in a state where the senators voted "nay," may I strongly encourage you to contact your senator and tell them to pull their heads out of their asses.  While this provision will no doubt eventually be smashed to bits when it reaches the courts (y'know, given that habeas corpus is a constitutional right for all citizens), I'd rather not have my tax dollars be spent on its defense.  

ETA: There is petition to the White House encouraging the President to veto the bill (and to do so for more appropriate reasons than previously provided by the press secretary).  It requires registration, but if you'd like to sign (I did), you can find the petition here:  Veto S. 1867

The Feinstein Amendment (No. 1125)

Grouped by Home State

Alabama:	Sessions (R-AL), Nay	Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska:	Begich (D-AK), Nay	Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Arizona:	Kyl (R-AZ), Nay	McCain (R-AZ), Nay
Arkansas:	Boozman (R-AR), Nay	Pryor (D-AR), Nay
California:	Boxer (D-CA), Yea	Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado:	Bennet (D-CO), Yea	Udall (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut:	Blumenthal (D-CT), Yea	Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Delaware:	Carper (D-DE), Yea	Coons (D-DE), Yea
Florida:	Nelson (D-FL), Yea	Rubio (R-FL), Nay
Georgia:	Chambliss (R-GA), Nay	Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii:	Akaka (D-HI), Yea	Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Idaho:	Crapo (R-ID), Nay	Risch (R-ID), Nay
Illinois:	Durbin (D-IL), Yea	Kirk (R-IL), Yea
Indiana:	Coats (R-IN), Nay	Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa:	Grassley (R-IA), Nay	Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas:	Moran (R-KS), Nay	Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky:	McConnell (R-KY), Nay	Paul (R-KY), Yea
Louisiana:	Landrieu (D-LA), Nay	Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine:	Collins (R-ME), Nay	Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Maryland:	Cardin (D-MD), Yea	Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts:	Brown (R-MA), Nay	Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan:	Levin (D-MI), Nay	Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Minnesota:	Franken (D-MN), Yea	Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi:	Cochran (R-MS), Nay	Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Missouri:	Blunt (R-MO), Nay	McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
Montana:	Baucus (D-MT), Yea	Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska:	Johanns (R-NE), Nay	Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Nevada:	Heller (R-NV), Nay	Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire:	Ayotte (R-NH), Nay	Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
New Jersey:	Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea	Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico:	Bingaman (D-NM), Yea	Udall (D-NM), Yea
New York:	Gillibrand (D-NY), Yea	Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina:	Burr (R-NC), Nay	Hagan (D-NC), Yea
North Dakota:	Conrad (D-ND), Yea	Hoeven (R-ND), Nay
Ohio:	Brown (D-OH), Yea	Portman (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma:	Coburn (R-OK), Nay	Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon:	Merkley (D-OR), Yea	Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania:	Casey (D-PA), Nay	Toomey (R-PA), Nay
Rhode Island:	Reed (D-RI), Yea	Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina:	DeMint (R-SC), Nay	Graham (R-SC), Nay
South Dakota:	Johnson (D-SD), Yea	Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee:	Alexander (R-TN), Nay	Corker (R-TN), Nay
Texas:	Cornyn (R-TX), Nay	Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah:	Hatch (R-UT), Nay	Lee (R-UT), Yea
Vermont:	Leahy (D-VT), Yea	Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Virginia:	Warner (D-VA), Yea	Webb (D-VA), Yea
Washington:	Cantwell (D-WA), Yea	Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia:	Manchin (D-WV), Nay	Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Wisconsin:	Johnson (R-WI), Nay	Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming:	Barrasso (R-WY), Nay	Enzi (R-WY), Nay

On the Udall Amendment (No. 1107)

Alabama:	Sessions (R-AL), Nay	Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska:	Begich (D-AK), Not Voting	Murkowski (R-AK), Not Voting
Arizona:	Kyl (R-AZ), Nay	McCain (R-AZ), Nay
Arkansas:	Boozman (R-AR), Nay	Pryor (D-AR), Nay
California:	Boxer (D-CA), Yea	Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado:	Bennet (D-CO), Yea	Udall (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut:	Blumenthal (D-CT), Yea	Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Delaware:	Carper (D-DE), Yea	Coons (D-DE), Yea
Florida:	Nelson (D-FL), Yea	Rubio (R-FL), Nay
Georgia:	Chambliss (R-GA), Nay	Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii:	Akaka (D-HI), Yea	Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Idaho:	Crapo (R-ID), Nay	Risch (R-ID), Nay
Illinois:	Durbin (D-IL), Yea	Kirk (R-IL), Yea
Indiana:	Coats (R-IN), Nay	Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa:	Grassley (R-IA), Nay	Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas:	Moran (R-KS), Nay	Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky:	McConnell (R-KY), Nay	Paul (R-KY), Yea
Louisiana:	Landrieu (D-LA), Nay	Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine:	Collins (R-ME), Nay	Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Maryland:	Cardin (D-MD), Yea	Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts:	Brown (R-MA), Nay	Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan:	Levin (D-MI), Nay	Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Minnesota:	Franken (D-MN), Yea	Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi:	Cochran (R-MS), Nay	Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Missouri:	Blunt (R-MO), Nay	McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
Montana:	Baucus (D-MT), Yea	Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska:	Johanns (R-NE), Nay	Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Nevada:	Heller (R-NV), Nay	Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire:	Ayotte (R-NH), Nay	Shaheen (D-NH), Nay
New Jersey:	Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea	Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico:	Bingaman (D-NM), Yea	Udall (D-NM), Yea
New York:	Gillibrand (D-NY), Yea	Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina:	Burr (R-NC), Nay	Hagan (D-NC), Nay
North Dakota:	Conrad (D-ND), Nay	Hoeven (R-ND), Nay
Ohio:	Brown (D-OH), Yea	Portman (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma:	Coburn (R-OK), Nay	Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon:	Merkley (D-OR), Yea	Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania:	Casey (D-PA), Nay	Toomey (R-PA), Nay
Rhode Island:	Reed (D-RI), Nay	Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
South Carolina:	DeMint (R-SC), Nay	Graham (R-SC), Nay
South Dakota:	Johnson (D-SD), Yea	Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee:	Alexander (R-TN), Nay	Corker (R-TN), Nay
Texas:	Cornyn (R-TX), Nay	Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah:	Hatch (R-UT), Nay	Lee (R-UT), Nay
Vermont:	Leahy (D-VT), Yea	Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Virginia:	Warner (D-VA), Yea	Webb (D-VA), Yea
Washington:	Cantwell (D-WA), Yea	Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia:	Manchin (D-WV), Nay	Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Wisconsin:	Johnson (R-WI), Nay	Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Wyoming:	Barrasso (R-WY), Nay	Enzi (R-WY), Nay

Thanks.

Comments

[jjhunter]

The latest from Sen. Scott Brown (MA) has not a whit to do with this. No, the headline is, I quote, STOP INSIDER TRADING IN CONGRESS, aka Sen. Brown proposing the STOCK Act. I am suspicious on principle, but must admit that the selling points he details in the mailing list email are intriguing:

• The Act would prohibit Members and employees of Congress and Executive Branch employees from buying or selling stocks, bonds, or commodities futures based on nonpublic information they obtain because of their privileged status.
• The Act would prohibit Congressional Members and employees from disclosing any non-public information about any pending or prospective legislative action obtained from a member or employee of Congress for investment purposes.
• Congressional Members and employees would be required to report the purchase, sale or exchange of any stock, bond, or commodities future transaction in excess of $1,000 within 90 days.
• Political intelligence firms would be required to register with the House and Senate, much like lobbyists currently do.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

Seriously, what's the point anymore? I mean, for god's sake, the only reason the admin threatened to veto it was because it was viewed as a threat to the executive's self-claimed power to do that without the oversight of congress. God, it's such a
farce, so absurd and extreme i'm no longer able to even comprehend it.