Alberto Gonzales on "Habeas Whatever"
As long as we're talking about great attorney-general quotes, let's move from Bobby Kennedy to our current guy, Alberto Gonzales.He made the papers a few weeks ago with this zinger.
"The Constitution doesn't say every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas,'' Gonzales told Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Jan. 17.
Habeas Corpus. This rule of law has been around since the Middle Ages in civilized countries. Simply put, it means the cops can't throw you in jail for no reason. And if they do, you can get a lawyer and put up a squawk.
Since the Constitution came out, everybody thought it said: "The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." The reason they thought this is because it's a direct quote from Section 9.
It was clear though, after Alberto clarified it. The Constitution doesn't grant any such right. It simply says the right can't be taken away. Get it? Bill Clinton himself could not have split a hair more efficiently.
By this same line of thinking, we find the Constitution doesn't say we have the right to speak our mind as we see fit, for instance. It just says Congress can't pass a law "abridging freedom of speech". Not the same thing at all!
Help! Where's Bobby when we need him? Shot down by the kitchen help, they say.
Labels: Alberto Gonzales, America, Terrorism
posted by Christopher Newton at 12:16 PM
4 Comments:
I believe Sherlock Holmes would say in response here, “Marvelous deduction, my dear Dr. Watson!”
Unfortunately, however, your pondering of logic, although somewhat enlightening, is not overly comforting to hear.
I would like to join the pondering pig Kiva group. I am interested in Kiva, and Latin America. My Kiva lending page is:
http://www.kiva.org/lender/julia23
I can speak of this now.
I was on the jury of a murder trial. A riot in a prison was started so 5 guys could get a "rat". ( in his defence, he WASN"T a rat)
5 men participated in his brutal, publically displayed murder. The outcome?
3 convicted
1 mistrial ( stupid crown councel)
1 acquittal
The murder happened in his cell. We the jury, with all the physical evidence and testimony from other inmates, couldn't "put #5 in the cell at the time of the murder."
They even had prison images of him cutting up his own blood stained clothes and burning the pieces before flushing them down a toilet.
We couldn't put him IN the cell. He was acquitted.
The truth wasn't fully told, but the law was upheld.
Perhaps your forefathers truely meant well. I bet they didn't ever consider anyone would ever challenge the Constitution, or disect it.
You're in, Julia, and thanks for joining! And I got to add another country to our map because you're the first investor with a Samoa entrepreneur. Good job!
By the way, I love the look of your new blog - so graceful and airy. And the content's not bad either!
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