Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Essay

Do we f rightfield panicism so much that we throw give away our temperament, and are we un pull up stakesing and afraid to logical argument our Constitution? -Rand Paul We are living in a sphere that has been overwhelmed with war a war that m both of us will never wee-wee to physic tout ensembley contest sole(prenominal) if one that challenges us mentally every twenty-four hour period. A war of terror and the constant battle once against it. We befuddle been overwhelmed with events that cod got led us to feel resort may be unattainable and at some point, when we are no interminable able to nurse ourselves physically, we arouse to intrust on our level-headed agreement to encourage us from evil in the world.It is sometimes hard to believe that anyone who acts against us would have licit rights at all just we live in a rustic that promotes freedom and allows everyone to be innocent until turn up guilty. In the coupled states we are app give the axed civilised liberties that treasure us, but mickle those rights force back in the way of run offping an competitor and nurse the wrong person? In the following paragraphs I will debate in detail one juristic action that was created to protect you and me, but in recent long time has raised motions that challenge us to see that protection some opposite than and maybe allow you to answer the wonder Rand Paul has submited.Habeas Corpus is an English jet law that has existed for centuries as a habitue of sorts for a effective dust to protect a person universe unplowed in custody. When hired correctly, it essentially gives that person, or someone at once representing that person, the right to ask why they are being still and kept from other common laws and protects them from illegitimate imprisonment. If held for earths that can non be explained then the law allows them to be released. This right can be hang for various reasons but was put in manoeuver to allow f or a equilibrate address and containment system. (http//legal-dictionary. hefreedictionary. com/Habeas+Corpus).In modern America, it is sonant to relate Habeas Corpus to our Sixth Amendment rights that state, In all criminal prosecutions, the acc functiond shall sleep together the right to a speedy and human race trial, by an impartial jury of the State and golf club wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the record and manage of the accusation to be confronted with the witnesses against him to have despotic process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the tending of Counsel for his defense. (http//www. usconstitution. net) For centuries, there have been questions asked intimately the depth of the right to Habeas Corpus as explained in the constitution but we can non to the full take it is intended and thorough consequence until we explain its biography that lies in the azoic English legal system.The term Habeas star translates from this instant from Latin You may have the body. It is commonly approximation that Habeas Corpus was stolon physical exercised in the early 1300s go king Edward I was in power although previous monarchs exhibit the use of similar procedures dating back the twelfth century.William Blackstone explains the legal action by saying, The King is at all times entitle to have an account, why the liberty of any of his subjects is restrained, wherever that restraint may be inflicted. patch this action had been used for centuries before, the specifics of it werent officially defined until the Habeas Corpus procedure of 1679 as an Act of the Parliament of England. Since it is commentary has been established, Habeas Corpus allows a prisoner or a third party to trouble the legal action and petition a superior court against unlawful detention.If the respective(prenominal) is being held unlawfully, that prisoner can be released by the court or as we may explain it today, be offered bail. ( http//www. constitution. org) While Habeas Corpus is approximately commonly link up to English report and has since evolved to its place in American History, it also has been molded for other modern legal systems in Australia, Canada, Ger numerous, India, Ireland, Malaysia, radical Zealand, The Philippines, Scotland, and Spain. Each of these countries has altered the original exposition to suit their society and legal system but they align somewhat directly.On more than one occasion in linked States history, this legal action has been blocked, allowing the legal system to get hold the right from the mess for the sake of greater safety. Within the fall in States constitution, specifically Article One, Section 9, article 2, it is explained that The privilege of the writ of habeas head teacher shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. (www. usconstitution. net) In earlier American history, suspension has occurred often during times of war.During the civil contend professorship Abraham Lincoln chose to suspend the writ of habeas lead be type he comprehend mobsters had intended to destroy railroad tracks that machine-accessible Philadelphia and Annapolis. These lines were essential for the Union during that war. What is interesting approximately this instance that we dont ceaselessly see is that the president did not lift the right across the board in all legal situations. It was specifically issued to those directly impacting those involved with the destruction of the rail lines. little than a year by and by on bare the order, Lincoln ended the lift and allowed most prisoners to be released.Shortly subsequently the courteous War, unrest prunetled upon the people of the joined States and multiple groups were created in the south to tug against the rebuilding of America, Reconstruction. The most notable o f these groups was the Ku Klux Klan. To protect the people based on the clause stated in the Constitution, relative passed the obligate Acts. Within them, the president was given the ability to deny habeas corpus if there was the thought that individuals were acting against federal authority and could not be stopped by routine means because of their serious violent nature. want a shot following the attacks on Pearl nurture in 1942, habeas corpus was suspended to that degree again. Martial law was declared because of the nature of the attacks on the United States. It was suspended to protect the American people from individuals who may have been secretly working to allow the attacks in Pearl Harbor to have happened or caused a potential threat again the United States. Nearly two years later, common law was restored and the suspension ended. in one case the war ended though, the right to habeas corpus was questioned by the U. S. despotic greet later on multiple German prisone rs who were being held in American-occupied German attempted to apply it to their detention. It was later admonishmined that the American court system had no jurisdiction over those individuals who were put behind bars outside the United States and never get across onto U. S. soil. This decision presents a pivotal fictitious character in the future of habeas corpus and its use during times of modern warfare, more specifically the current War on fright. On April 19th, 1995 a assail was detonated that completely destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in okay City.This attack killed 168 people and injured hundreds more. The bomb caused millions of dollars worth or damaged and remained the finish up domestic terrorist act until September 11, 2001. later the Oklahoma city bombing, President Clinton and Congress passed and signed to law an act that was created to deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, provide for an useful death penalty, and for other purposes. the Antiterrorism and Effective expiration Penalty Act of 1996 limited the use of habeas corpus and the power of federal decide to relieve prisoners.Six years after the bombing in Oklahoma, attacks were made on the U. S. soil on a day that undeniably varietyd the path of American history forever. The worst terrorist attack in U. S. history claimed nearly 3,000 lives when 4 passenger jets were hijacked by terrorist for the Middle East and crashed. Soon after the attacks, President George W. Bush spoke to the American people. He ended his historical voice communication saying, Fellow citizens, well meet violence with diligent justice, assured of the rightness of our cause and self-assured of the victories to come.In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may he watch over the United States of America. Because of these attacks, the way we go about access justice had to be altered. The current legal system did not necessarily provide the best means to handling t he situations we were being faced with. Our world changed and we were forced to change with it. (http//georgewbush-whitehouse. archives. gov) Shortly after September 11th, President Bush issued the Presidential military order that allowed the Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War against Terrorism.This would allow the U. S. governance to indefinitely hold water non-citizens with suspected connections to terrorism or terrorists, designate enemy paladins, without access to the rights available by the U. S. constitution including habeas corpus. The U. S. Supreme Court sustain that the right the basic principal of habeas corpus would not be taken from citizens of the United States. In January following the terrorist attacks of 2001, the Bush governing established the highly criticized detention camp, Guantanamo embayment located in Cuba (http//www. thepoliticalguide. com/Issues/Guantanamo_Bay/).This facility was created to delay individuals suspected of participation in the world(a) war on terror. Similar to the venturement made by the U. S. Supreme Court after WWII, Guantanamo, or GTMO, allows the U. S. to essential play by a different set of rules. Bush set up a military commission that could turn out detainees at GTMO. In 2006 Congress passed the Department of demurral Appropriations Act which states that no court, justice, or judge has jurisdiction at GTMO. This basically strips all captives of their ability to request habeas corpus or have access to any other rights that U. S. itizens would have in any court of the United States. Because the lines drawn in the legal system have become so blurry over the past a few(prenominal) years, the U. S. Government, the Commander in Chief more specifically, has found itself under intense scrutiny. on that point are so many sides to the debate on the War on Terror that it would impotential to discuss in its entirety in this short essay. The role of the President, Congress, our mi litary, and the Supreme Court have come to question but it seems as though the clarity that is being sought after only leads to more questions and uncertainty.The media has effected this dramatically with polarized governing that force the citizens of the United States to choose a side. I feel as though fear has divided our nation. Not the fear of being attacked, but the fear of the unknown. It is blue to move passed fear when you can smash the cause of it, but we live in a time where people we do not know want our lives to end and we are allowing the government that we support to grow those people to justice. The question is, how are they release about seeking that justice and many will ask if we should even ask.Do we turn a blind nerve center and allow the system to take business organization of those who act against us, or is that system what is creating the occupation in the head start place. In a sense its like petition the question, which came first, the chicken or t he egg? ar we reacting to terrorism or is terrorism the cause of our actions? Recently we have been challenged to ask these questions because of the inside information surround the Boston Bombing that took place only a few weeks ago. For the first time in recent history, a legal U. S. citizen acted with intentions similar and possibly directly linked with those who we would place and try at GTMO.The problem is, while this individual is a U. S. citizen, should he be tried as one? For a few days following the attacks, it was questions whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger of the two attackers and soon only living suspect directly linked with the bombing, should be treated as a U. S. citizen or an enemy combatant like I discussed earlier. With limited rights, it would read his case problematical but where do we draw the line between utilise the law to protect us and exploitation the law against others. During the time that these decisions were being made, Tsarnaev did, like man y others held captive, attempt to use right to habeas corpus.It was denied after the decision was made to try him under common law with overwhelming evidence proving his association with the attacks. While expound are still being brought out daily, I have to believe that our government and legal system are exposed of handling this situation in a way that best protects the rights of the rest of us. I cannot explain which came first, the chicken or the egg, but I do know that our world is complicated beyond belief and while we can attempt to use reason and logic to find the best possible outcome, it is that very ability that allows many to abominate us.Our rights and freedom is what seems to be causing the difference of opinion and that is something our country, I believe, will never stop fighting for. We fear what we cannot explain. With education of the tools have been put in place we can protect ourselves and others. We need to ask the difficult questions so we can better under stand how to find the best possible stem in times like these. We essential to use our freedoms to debate, challenge, and change our future not hide behind them and let someone else change it for us.