Restore America's Moral Authority

A number of critical amendments are going to be offered to the Defense Authorization bill, and one of the most important was introduced today by Senators Leahy, Dodd, and Specter.

Here's what today's Time's says about the effort:

In 2006, acting in reckless haste before an election, 65 senators and 250 members of the House defied the Constitution, endangered the safety of American soldiers and hurt the nation’s global reputation by passing the Military Commissions Act. The law created a separate, substandard and clearly unconstitutional system of trial and punishment for foreigners. This week Congress has a chance to begin fixing that grievous mistake....

The protection from arbitrary arrest, embedded in the Magna Carta and in the Constitution of the United States, is one of the most powerful weapons against tyranny in democracy’s arsenal. Before President Bush, only one American president suspended habeas corpus — Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War — and the Supreme Court duly struck down that arrogation of power....

It is good to see the effort led by Mr. Specter, who as chairman of the committee before the 2006 election shepherded the military tribunal law through Congress at the behest of the White House. We hope similar principle will be on display by the other Republican and Democratic senators and representatives who betrayed the Constitution and the democracy they were sworn to defend by voting for that law.

You can sign on as a citizen co-sponsor to the legislation. But it's far more important that you call your Senators (the switchboard is 202-224-3121, toll free is 888-355-3588) to urge them to support this amendment. And while you're at it, tell them no funding without a deadline.

Here's Chris Dodd, announcing the amendment and explaining the criticality of restoring habeas corpus.