Unjustified Suspensions of Habeas Corpus
In my comment to Judges Tell Congress: Don't Suspend Habeas Corpus, I retold this interesting story about the origins of today's legal bases for suspending the writ. I basically just regurgitated information from my two sources, but it's a story that isn't told enough. I highly recommend that you go check out the episode of This American Life cited...It's free online at http://www.thisamericanlife.org'
A slight distinction...
While during World War II, President Roosevelt did not explicitly order suspension of habeas corpus, he did pressure the courts to suspend it for eight Nazi saboteurs who snuck into the United States. Remarkably, the Supreme Court issued a decision (Ex Parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942) ), denying the defendants' filing for a writ of habeas corpus and trial in civilian court, without writing opinions. They wrote the opinions months later.
What complicates the case is that some of the saboteurs were American citizens, none of them actually committed any act of espionage, there was some evidence that they never did plan to commit espionage, and they were discovered because one of them turned the group in. It seems Hitler recruited a pretty reluctant group of spies, individuals who were, for the most part, looking for a way to get to or back to the United States for personal reasons. There would certainly still have been justification for conspiracy charges, but it seems that a civilian court would have been more appropriate.
Several of the Supreme Court Justices who initially supported the decision would have agreed with that contention. After writing their opinions subsequently, some of the Justices made public statements regretting their choice and saying that process of writing the opinion changed their minds. They said it set a dangerous precedent.
One might think that this would make the decision a pretty weak basis to set a precedent. Funny thing--Bush administration lawyers cite this case as the basis for suspensions of the write of habeas corpus for US citizens at Gitmo.
It's an interesting and troubling story.
Sources:
1. http://www.uscourts.gov/outreach/topics/habeascorpus_landmark.htm
2. Neary, Chris. "Straight Eyes on the Quirin Guys." This American Life. 3/12/04.
A slight distinction...
While during World War II, President Roosevelt did not explicitly order suspension of habeas corpus, he did pressure the courts to suspend it for eight Nazi saboteurs who snuck into the United States. Remarkably, the Supreme Court issued a decision (Ex Parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942) ), denying the defendants' filing for a writ of habeas corpus and trial in civilian court, without writing opinions. They wrote the opinions months later.
What complicates the case is that some of the saboteurs were American citizens, none of them actually committed any act of espionage, there was some evidence that they never did plan to commit espionage, and they were discovered because one of them turned the group in. It seems Hitler recruited a pretty reluctant group of spies, individuals who were, for the most part, looking for a way to get to or back to the United States for personal reasons. There would certainly still have been justification for conspiracy charges, but it seems that a civilian court would have been more appropriate.
Several of the Supreme Court Justices who initially supported the decision would have agreed with that contention. After writing their opinions subsequently, some of the Justices made public statements regretting their choice and saying that process of writing the opinion changed their minds. They said it set a dangerous precedent.
One might think that this would make the decision a pretty weak basis to set a precedent. Funny thing--Bush administration lawyers cite this case as the basis for suspensions of the write of habeas corpus for US citizens at Gitmo.
It's an interesting and troubling story.
Sources:
1. http://www.uscourts.gov/outreach/topics/habeascorpus_landmark.htm
2. Neary, Chris. "Straight Eyes on the Quirin Guys." This American Life. 3/12/04.