Future generations will look back to examine the choices we made during a time when security was too often invoked as a watchword to convince us to slacken our defense of liberty and the rule of law. The Great Writ of habeas corpus is the legal process that guarantees an opportunity to go to court and challenge the abuse of power by the Government. The Military Commissions Act rolled back these protections by eliminating that right. permanently. for any noncitizen labeled an enemy combatant. In fact. a detainee does not have to be found to be an enemy combatant. it is enough for the Government to say someone is "awaiting" determination of that statussomething detainees cannot even contest when they are held in jail. The sweep of this habeas provision goes far beyond the few hundred detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay. and it includes an estimated 12 million lawful permanent residents in the United States today.
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