The Last Bill George Signed

[Mickey Brausch]

[ QUOTE ]

A privilege that can be suspended is hardly something that is guaranteed.

[/ QUOTE ]A privilege that can be suspended only in case of rebellion or invasion is not guaranteed?

This is highly illogical, as Mr Spock would say.

BTW, I cannot understand what "guaranteed" means in this context. Either something is a right that American citizens have (with whatever restrictions or limitations) under their constitution or it isn't.

Mickey Brausch

[vulturesrow]

Im not quibbling over semantics with you. Habeas corpus is quite clearly not an unassailable right, which fact one can glean from the writing of the clause in the Constitution. If youd like to discuss whether or not you think foreign terrorism constitutes an invasion, Id be happy to have that conversation, as I have not made up my mind on that personally. But Im done with this particular facet of the habeas corpus discussion.

[New001]

Mickey, I think vulturesrow is correct here. Calling it a right is a little disingenuous, but the passage you quoted is quite explicit that it can be revoked under those circumstances.

[Mickey Brausch]

I'm not an expert in constitutiuonal law but an "unassailable right" seems to me like a characterization of a right, rather than an explicit consittutional description. In other words, what is an unassailable right for some, e.g. the right to bear arms, is not so unassailable for others.

Habeas Corpus has a long and bloody histoty behind it. It's a right that was won out from the European monarchs with many a life lost. For some, it's the cornerstone of a free and democratic society, because it constitutes a basic protection for the citizen. Calling it a privilege surely cannot mean that it's like a membership to a private club. And the fact that a right can be revoked (even the freedom of speech can be revoked, e.g. in wartime) does not mean that it is not really a right.

Now, as to whether a terrorist campaign constitutes invasion (when undertaken by foreigners) or rebellion (when by natives), I'd think the latter has a much better logical basis than the former.

Invasion means the attacking and taking over of geographical areas; that's not how (modern) terrorism operates, though. But large-scale terrorism by American citizens can certainly be characterized as a form of rebellion.

Al Qaeda, no. The Weather Underground, yes.

Mickey Brausch