Video - October 17, 2006: The Death of Habeas Corpus

This is one of Olbermann's news reports broadcast on MSNBC last month. On October 17, 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This act severely curtails the right of Habeas Corpus and denies detainees the right to seek release from unlawful imprisonment. Journalists across the nation reacted strongly to this event, and many rightfully condemned it. Habeas Corpus was part of the original U.S. Constitution, and has long been recognized as embodying some of the most fundamental values associated with the professed ideals of American liberal democracy, including the protection of individuals from unlawful state imprisonment. This was a major legislative action whose full consequences many Americans remain unaware of. The bill eliminates habeas corpus for any noncitizen--and under certain circumstances American citizens--determined to be an "unlawful enemy combatant engaged in hostilities or having supported hostilities against the United States." Duration: 8:30. -Travis I am entering the turbo mode portion of the academic quarter, so I will be posting more audio/video media than usual, as the news summaries are slightly more time consuming since I write all of my blog info/news summaries (incuding the video clip captions) myself..they shall continue though!