Bizarro World

Okay, this is a family and friends blog. A way to keep up when you are far away. See a piece of our lives here in Oak-town. It is not, so far, a political blog.

But I went to law school and sometimes things get me in the legal gut. Like this (this is a transcript from a judiciary committee hearing):

Gonzales: There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There's a prohibition against taking it away. ...

Specter: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take it away except in cases of rebellion or invasion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there's an invasion or rebellion?

Gonzales: I meant by that comment, the Constitution doesn't say every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right to habeas. Doesn't say that. It simply says the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except...

Specter: You may be treading on your interdiction and violating common sense, Mr. Attorney General.

Violating common sense indeed. Habeas corpus is the right of a person held by the state to question the propriety of that imprisonment. It would be the way I would help any of you if you were picked up by the police, without charge, and locked away in a penitentiary. Without habeas corpus, the state could just do this and you would have no way to question your imprisonment. NO RECOURSE. None.

And the top lawyer for the US government -- AG Gonzales -- says that this is not a guaranteed right. Does this seem like a bad omen?