Karl And Me

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I had a little dust-up with Karl Rove Thursday night.  We have a slightly different view of the Constitution.  I happen to concur with the Supreme Court decision upholding Habeas Corpus, giving prisoners held in U. S. custody the right to challenge their detention.   BushCo put them in Gitmo in the first place hoping to circumvent the law.  One of many 5-4 decisions this term, this is a reminder that our Constitutional rights are hanging by a thread.  The name of that thread is Anthony Kennedy.

The rights conferred by our Constitution apply not only to citizens, but also to “persons”, as stated in the Fourteenth Amendment:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

 This was affirmed in the 1886 case of Yick Wo V. Hopkins:

…that equal protection and security should be given to all under like circumstances in the enjoyment of their personal and civil rights; that all persons should be equally entitled to pursue their happiness, and acquire and enjoy property; that they should have like access to the courts of the country for the protection of their persons and property, the prevention and redress of wrongs, and the enforcement of contracts; that no impediment should be interposed to the pursuits of any one, except as applied to the same pursuits by others under like circumstances; that no greater burdens should be laid upon one than are laid upon others in the same calling and condition; and that, in the administration of criminal justice, no different or higher punishment should be imposed upon [118 U.S. 356, 368] one than such as is prescribed to all for like offenses…

I’m amazed that so-called conservatives are angered about a decision that upholds a basic human right, a core value of our nation.  These are the same people who say they want to appont justices who will offer strict interpretations of the Constitution. 

Our other major bone of contention is that Congress never passed a war declaration. Rove claims the  use of force resolution is the same thing.  That is contradicted by former Attorney General Alberto Gonazales, as indicated when the Center for Constitutional Rights challenged the Bush administration for violating Habeas Corpus at Guantamo. 

GONZALES: There was not a war declaration, either in connection with Al Qaida or in Iraq. It was an authorization to use military force. I only want to clarify that, because there are implications. Obviously, when you talk about a war declaration, you’re possibly talking about affecting treaties, diplomatic relations. And so there is a distinction in law and in practice. And we’re not talking about a war declaration. This is an authorization only to use military force.

Here is my little chat with Karl Rove.

Rove(mp3)

By: Joel