But we dare not question their patriotism, do we?

A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation yesterday that would restore habeas corpus rights to all detainees in U.S. custody and would narrowly define what it means to be an "enemy combatant" against the United States, a measure designed to challenge laws ushered in by the Republican-controlled Congress last year.

The bill, titled the "Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007," strikes at the core of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 by giving detainees access to U.S. courts. It was introduced by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The bill would also prevent the executive branch from making blanket determinations about who is an enemy combatant and would restrict the president's authority to interpret when certain human rights standards apply to detainees. The legislation would limit the label "enemy combatant" to a person "who directly participates in hostilities in a zone of active combat against the United States" or who took part in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Interestingly enough, these DemocratICK members of the legislative branch are not actually seeking to overturn executive branch action -- they are seeking to repeal a law tha they passed. But it takes a while to explain that in this article about an effort to give terrorists greater legal rights than the soldiers who fight them.

Posted by: Greg at 11:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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