Letter to Congress from Retired Judges - Sept. 2006
Statements & Testimony
– 09/14/06
The Military Commissions Act of
2006 proposes the exclusion of federal courts from reviewing executive detentions
at the Guantánamo Bay Naval
Station and other detainment sites outside the United States. Section 6 includes “all cases, without exception…which relate to any aspect of
the detention, treatment, or trial of an alien detained outside of the United States…since
September 11, 2001.” The federal judges
argue that such an infringement of habeas corpus would allow for the indefinite
holding of individuals, and would be a violation of the federal courts’
historic responsibility to test prisoner confinement cases.
The retired federal judges writing this letter challenge
claims that their involvement in detainment review will impede the fight
against terrorism. They defend their
traditional role in managing civil and criminal cases, asserting that cases in
past times of conflict were “resolved fairly and expeditiously, without
compromising the interests of this country.” The letter ultimately demands that there is
not a well-founded reason for procedure at Guantánamo Bay to function differently from the historical precedent.
Tags: Justice, Liberty & National Security, Checks & Balances
