2. RESTORE THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Under the pretext of the “war on terror,” the Bush administration, with the help of a complacent Congress, has pushed legislation through the House and Senate which severely limit the freedoms afforded to us in the Bill of Rights.

The Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006 is a lesser known violation of our freedoms, but is perhaps the most serious attack on the Bill of Rights in American history. This law was passed in response to the Supreme Court’s decision that the president CANNOT round-up, hold indefinitely, and deny people access to US courts, citizens or not, at will.

The MCA nullifies the 5th and 6th amendments, which provide us the freedoms of due process, and a speedy, fair, and public trial respectively.

This law allows the president and others to detain on suspicion, hold indefinitely without due process (including the right to habeas corpus, a speedy trial, notice of charges, no hearsay evidence, and no evidence under coercion, or Geneva conventions), and operate secret trials for whomever they may declare an “unlawful enemy combatant,” which is a word used to call anyone they choose a terrorist and therefore unworthy of the Geneva Conventions, which the president has the authority to interpret the meaning of. The courts have no jurisdiction to review these commissions, and detainees cannot bring charges against any US personnel when their rights are violated. 14

Though many say that “as long as one does nothing wrong, one has nothing to fear from these new laws,” little could be further from the truth. We have the Bill of Rights (or what’s left of it) today because the framers knew that if we did not specify the limitations of government loudly and clearly, they would most likely become tyrannical. The government can only take away rights we allow them to take away, so let’s not allow it.

The Bill of Rights were not meant to be bent to what the president declared “necessary” for a war on terror that will never end; they were meant to always protect the people of the United States from their government’s abuse of power.

Whether or not you are feeling the dire consequences of our constitution’s dismantling today or not, many are, but they are only the first, and their stories are often kept secret. Whether or not you trust this president, this congress, or the next president is not the issue, either. It takes one person with impure motives to destroy the intent of the law and initiate a complete dictatorship in this country, the groundwork for which has been laid with this law.

specifics:

INSIST that your congresspersons repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006.