Detention and the Constitution

This week the 4th Circuit held that the indefinite detention of a U.S. resident alien is unlawful.  The opinion is here.   There is some powerful language in the opinion about executive power.  Here is one of the key passages:

   

For over two centuries of growth and struggle, peace and war, the Constitution has secured our freedom through the guarantee that, in the United States, no one will be deprived of liberty without due process of law. Yet more than four years ago military authorities seized an alien lawfully residing here. He has been held by the military ever since -- without criminal charge or process. He has been so held despite the fact that he was initially taken from his home in Peoria, Illinois by civilian authorities, and indicted for purported domestic crimes. He has been so held although the Government has never alleged that he is a member of any nation’s military, has fought alongside any nation’s armed forces, or has borne arms against the United States anywhere in the world. And he has been so held, without acknowledgment of the protection afforded by the Constitution, solely because the Executive believes that his military detention is proper.

Comments

[Ed Trompke]

The decision is a bit long, but upholds our long tradition that even monarchs cannot imprision (sometimes violent) dissenters without judicial oversight to protect the individual as well as the state. That tradition was not even novel to the Stuart kings, but it was ignored then too. Of course that led to a violent rebellion, which is why we prefer the rule of law. Thanks for posting it, Paula.