Washington – The Senate narrowly rejected legislation on Wednesday that would have given military detainees the right to protest their detention in federal court.
The 56-43 vote fell four shy of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate on the bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa. It was a blow for human rights groups that say a current ban on habeas corpus petitions could lead to the indefinite detention of individuals wrongfully suspected of terrorism.
President Bush and conservative Republicans counter that the ban, enacted last year, was necessary to stem the tide of legal protests flooding civilian courts.
Among the 56 senators voting in favor of expanding detainees’ rights were six Republicans: Specter, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Richard Lugar of Indiana, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Gordon Smith of Oregon.
Colorado’s Republican Sen. Wayne Allard voted against the measure. Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, voted for it.
Leahy said he would try again to repeal the ban, although he was not sure when he would get another chance.
“The truth is that casting aside the time-honored protection of habeas corpus makes us more vulnerable as a nation because it leads us away from our core American values,” Leahy said. “It calls into question our historic roll as a defender of human rights around the world.”
In June, the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the ban on habeas corpus petitions is constitutional, although no argument date has been set.
Specter, the lone Republican to co-sponsor the bill, has said he anticipates the court will rule the ban unconstitutional.
Habeas corpus “is a constitutional right that has existed since the Magna Carta in 1215,” he said.
