Teacherken posted a diary on June 16, 2007 that opens with a vignette about a parent at back-to-school night.  I finally found the time to write a reply.  More below the fold.

Several DKos readers have posted diaries about AG Gonzales' comment that the Constitution does not give federal courts the right to hear habeas corpus petitions.  While Gonzales' assertion astounded many of us, others cited authority to support Gonzales' position.  I found those authorities unconvincing, but realized it would take more than a few lines to explain them away.  The comments of many readers also revealed that a summary of the status on habeas, both before and after the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (the MCA), might be helpful.

This diary shows where the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees the right to file a habeas corpus petition, but has not yet defined the full scope of this right.  Absent invasion or rebellion,  then, Congress cannot deny US citizens and resident aliens the right to file a habeas petition in federal court if the federal government has wrongfully detained them.  

The diary next explains how one District Court interpreted the section of the MCA that tries to eliminate the habeas rights of alien "enemy combatants," and ultimately decided it had no jurisidction to hear the combatant's habeas petition.  Last, it summarizes why I think the District Court erred in this regard.