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Restoring Habeas Corpus: Protecting American Values and the Great Writ

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Restoring Habeas Corpus: Protecting American Values and the Great Writ S. HRG. 110–145 RESTORING HABEAS CORPUS: PROTECTING AMERICAN VALUES AND THE GREAT WRIT HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 22, 2007 Serial No. J–110–37 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 37–759 PDF WASHINGTON : 2007 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:45 Sep 24, 2007 Jkt 037759 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\37759.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah HERB KOHL, Wisconsin CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California JON KYL, Arizona RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JOHN CORNYN, Texas BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island TOM COBURN, Oklahoma BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director MICHAEL O’NEILL, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:45 Sep 24, 2007 Jkt 037759 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\37759.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Page Durbin, Hon. Richard J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois .................... 17 Feingold, Hon. Russell D., a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin ............. 22 Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., a U.S. Senator from the State of Massachusetts, prepared statement .............................................................................................. 150 Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont .................... 1 prepared statement .......................................................................................... 161 Specter, Hon. Arlen, a U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania ................. 3 Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, a U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island ...... 24 WITNESSES Cue´llar, Mariano-Florentino, Professor, Stanford Law School, Stanford, Cali- fornia ..................................................................................................................... 9 Guter, Donald, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Dean, Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ........................................................... 5 Kerr, Orin, Professor, George Washington University Law School, Wash- ington, D.C. ........................................................................................................... 13 Rivkin, David B., Jr., Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Washington, D.C. ....... 11 Taft William Howard, IV, Of Counsel, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Washington, D.C. ........................................................................ 7 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Responses Mariano-Florentino Cue´llar to questions submitted by Senators Kyl and Biden ....................................................................................................... 28 Responses of Donald Guter to questions submitted by Senators Kyl, Leahy and Biden .............................................................................................................. 36 Responses of Orin Kerr to questions submitted by Senators Kyl and Biden ..... 40 Responses of David B. Rivkin to questions submitted by Senator Kyl ............... 43 Responses of William H. Taft IV to questions submitted by Senators Kyl and Biden .............................................................................................................. 49 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD American Immigration Lawyers Association, Carlina Tapia-Ruano, President, Washington, D.C., letter ...................................................................................... 51 Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Barry M. Kamins, President, New York, New York, letter and attachments .................................................. 52 Cue´llar, Mariano-Florentino, Professor, Stanford Law School, Stanford, Cali- fornia ..................................................................................................................... 77 Epstein, Richard A., Chicago, Illinois, letter ......................................................... 83 Evanglicals for Human Rights, David P. Gushee, Jackson, Tennessee, letter and attachments ................................................................................................... 85 Former United States Attorneys and former senior officials in the Department of Justice, joint letter ........................................................................................... 113 Franklin, Sharon Bradford, Senior Counsel, Constitution Project, Washington, D.C., letter and attachments ............................................................................... 121 Guter, Donald, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Dean, Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, statement and attachment ............ 139 Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Hadar Susskind, Washington Director, Washington, D.C., letter ...................................................................................... 144 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:45 Sep 24, 2007 Jkt 037759 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\37759.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC IV Page Keene, David A., Chairman, American Conservative Union and Co-Chair, Constitution Project’s Liberty & Security Initiative, Alexandria, Virginia, statement .............................................................................................................. 146 Kerr, Orin S., Professor, George Washington University Law School, Wash- ington, D.C., statement ........................................................................................ 155 Retired Federal judges, joint letter ........................................................................ 164 Rivkin, David B., Jr., Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Washington, D.C., statement .............................................................................................................. 167 Taft, William Howard, IV, Of Counsel, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Washington, D.C., statement ..................................................... 171 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:45 Sep 24, 2007 Jkt 037759 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\37759.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC RESTORING HABEAS CORPUS: PROTECTING AMERICAN VALUES AND THE GREAT WRIT TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2007 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, D.C. The Committee met, Pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in room SD–226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senators Leahy, Feingold, Durbin, Whitehouse, and Specter. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT Chairman LEAHY. Good morning. Today the Judiciary Committee turns its attention to a top legislative priority that Senator Specter and I have set for this year: restoring the Great Writ of habeas cor- pus, and the accountability and balance it allows. And I thank our distinguished panel of witnesses for appearing here today. They il- lustrate the broad agreement among people of diverse political be- liefs and backgrounds that the mistake committed in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 must be corrected. It seems that habeas corpus was recklessly undermined in last year’s legislation. Senator Specter and I urged caution before tak- ing that dangerous step. We did several times on the floor, but we fell just a few votes shy on our amendment to restore these protec- tions. It is now 6 months later. The election is behind us, and I hope that the new Senate will reconsider this historic error in judg- ment and set the matter right. It is urgent that we restore our legal traditions and reestablish this fundamental check on the abil- ity of the Government to lock someone away without meaningful judicial review of its action, and the time to act is now. I commend Senator Specter, my friend of decades who feels as passionately as I do about this issue, for helping us plan this hear- ing. He and I introduced the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 on the very first day of this Congress. The Military Commissions Act, passed hastily in the weeks lead- ing up to last year’s election, was a profound mistake, and its elimination of habeas corpus rights was its worst error. Like the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the elimi- nation of habeas rights was an action driven by fear and it is an- other stain on America’s reputation in the world. This Great Writ is the legal process that guarantees an oppor- tunity to go to court and challenge the abuse of power by the Gov- (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:45 Sep 24, 2007 Jkt 037759 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\37759.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC 2 ernment. The Military Commissions Act rolled back these protec- tions by eliminating that right, permanently, for any non-citizen la- beled 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 status, that they have not had
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