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.

What A Relief! I'm in North Korea!

The next time you're discussing whether it's a good idea to cut back civil liberties if we'll be safer from terrorism, trot out this little fact. According to the Global Terrorism Index, the country safest from terrorist attack is... North Korea.





Graphic credit: Khary