[fwd, ravi]:
Michigan 'Invites' Men From Mideast to Be Interviewed, ``Officials are sending letters today to hundreds of young men inviting them to make appointments for interviews...'' (NYT, Jodi Wilgoren)
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I suppose it is meaningless to mention that the whole point to the Magna Carta (1215) and the right to a writ of Habeas Corpus (1679) was to curb the arbitrary abuse of state power to imprison and engage in inquisitorial practices of precisely the sort that King George and Lord Ashcroft have taken upon themselves.
While a host of little fascist media pundits have taken to noting Lincoln suspended this right, it was in fact found by the Supreme Court (Merryman, 1861) that only Congress had the right to suspend it. Lincoln ignored the decision, and Congress later authorized the presidential suspension ex post facto (1863).
The more appropriate citation for a suspension of a writ of Habeas Corpus is the Dred Scott decision, where the Supreme Court found that Scott as a slave and non-person had no such right. Since resident aliens are effectively non-persons, the parallels are obvious.
I can't wait to read Renquist, Scalia, et al. affirming Dred Scott..
Chuck Grimes