Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2014

FORENSICS JOURNAL The War on Terror: Habeas Corpus, Indefinite Detention, and Evidentiary Matters James Sevison INTRODUCTION World War II Throughout American history there have been numerous attempts to encroach upon the right to petition for habeas corpus relief. These earlier bids to cast aside individual freedoms encountered great opposition and routinely sparked fierce debate. This same firestorm of criticism has recently been reignited, as civil libertarians and human rights organizations have begun to censure current legislation concerning the practices of habeas corpus suspension and indefinite detention. However, despite common belief and although highly unpopular, the suspension of habeas corpus and the practice of indefinite detention remain unequivocally permissible under this nation’s current system of laws. Furthermore, the practice of using inaccessible, classified information as a means to sustain an individual’s detention is not only permissible but gains its authority from the pre-9/11 Classified Information Procedures Act of 1980. The perception that these practices are constitutionally proscribed is more public opinion than comprehension of applicable law (Classified Information Procedures Act). An examination of relevant law—both past and present— will lay the foundation for current government policy. Franklin Roosevelt—in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor—suspended habeas corpus via Executive Order 9066. This Order relocated people of Japanese ancestry, involuntarily placing them in government run internment camps. According to the National Archives and Records Administration, “Nearly 70,000 of the evacuees were American citizens. The government made no charges against them, nor could they appeal their incarceration” (National Archives and Records Administration). The Supreme Court decisions handed down in Hirabayashi v. United States, Yasui v. United States, Ex parte Endo, and Korematsu v. United States upheld the legality of Executive Order 9066, thus depriving Japanese-Americans (United States citizens) the right to challenge their detentions. Global War on Terror (GWOT) In response to the attacks of 9/11, Congress passed legislation aimed at bringing to justice those responsible for creating such devastation, ultimately granting the President extensive authority. George Bush, in his memoir, aptly a

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