Harvey Silverglate on John Ashcroft
In the Boston Phoenix, Harvey Silverglate and Carl Takei’s Crossing the threshold points out how dangerous Ashcroft’s assault on habeas corpus really is.
In a world where many governments have the power “to lock them up and throw away the key,” habeas requires the judiciary to keep a spare key. In fact, the check habeas provides on executive detention powers doesn’t stop with the courts: the US Constitution grants power to suspend the writ only to Congress, and even then only in the event of “rebellion or invasion.”
