Parts of this article (those related to does not discuss Boumediene v. Bush (2008) or Military Commissions Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2009) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2015)
Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007
  • A bill to restore the right of Guantanamo captives to access the US court system under the principle of habeas corpus.
PassedJune 7, 2007 (Senate Judiciary Committee)
Introduced bySen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Arlen Specter (Senate), Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Jane Harman (House)

A bill, provisionally called the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007, S. 185, passed the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, June 7, 2007.[1]

The bill was sponsored by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and (formerly) Republican Senator Arlen Specter.[1][2] Specter joined the Democrats in supporting the bill, which the Committee passed on a vote of 11 to 8, without debate. The bill would restore the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US court system under the principle of habeas corpus, a right that had been stripped from them by the Military Commissions Act of 2006.[3]

A version of the bill was introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 1416) by Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) and Jane Harman (D-California).[4]

On June 29, 2007, the Supreme Court agreed to hear outstanding habeas corpus cases, opening up the possibility that they might overturn some or all of the Military Commissions Act.[5][6][7]

The Act was attached, as an amendment, to a defense bill.[6] On September 19, 2007, the Senate voted on a cloture motion for including the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act as an amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Department Authorization bill. The final vote was 56–43, just four votes short of overriding the Republican filibuster. Every Democrat voted for the bill as well as six Republicans. Those Republicans were Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), Gordon Smith (R-Oregon), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), John Sununu (R-New Hampshire), and Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), who sponsored the bill. The only non-Republican who voted against the bill was Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Connecticut).

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) stated that the Senate's passage of the Military Commissions Act, which suspended habeas corpus for detainees, "calls into question the United States' historic role of defender of human rights in the world. It accomplishes what opponents could never accomplish on the battlefield, whittling away our own liberties."[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Caitlin Price (June 7, 2007). "Senate committee supports restoring habeas rights to Guantanamo detainees". The Jurist. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  2. ^ Statement of Sen. Specter on behalf of himself and Senator Leahy introducing HCRA on December 5, 2006
  3. ^ Ari Melber, "Senate Begins Real Push on Habeas Corpus", The Nation blog, June 7, 2007
  4. ^ Amnesty International page on HCRA Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Shawl, Jeannie (June 29, 2007). "Supreme Court to hear Guantanamo Bay detainee habeas cases". The Jurist. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
  6. ^ a b "Justice for Detainees: Congress can right a wrong in the war on terrorism". The Washington Post. September 18, 2007. p. A18. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  7. ^ Specter, Arlen (2007-06-26). "S.185 – 110th Congress (2007-2008): Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007". United States Congress. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  8. ^ Weisman, Jonathan (September 20, 2007). "GOP Blocks Bid on Rights Of Detainees". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2010.


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