Tuesday, March 04, 2003

Brill on Ashcroft

Shweeeeet. On the development of the Patriot Act right after 9/11. Apparently in the original:

Most shocking was that the bill suspended what was known in the law as habeas corpus—which gave anyone detained on American soil the right to demand a court hearing to challenge the authority of those holding them. Lincoln had suspended habeas corpus for a time during the Civil War. Now Ashcroft was proposing that it just plain be eliminated during this undefined emergency that had no designated end date.


(via Jack Balkin who has a few words)