I was having a conversation with a colleague about detainees at Guantanamo Bay. “I don’t agree we should extend Constitutional rights to non-Americans,” she said. But which rights would you take away, Freedom of religion? Imagine forcing every visiting foreign national into the Southern Baptist Convention.
That’s a facetious example. But what about due process rights, like “habeas corpus?” Habeus Corpus rights mean the government cannot imprison you without just cause, they have to prove they have just cause, and you get the right to argue that they don’t. Of course Americans deserve the right to challenge their own detention. But foreigners? Terrorist foreigners? That’s too much red tape when there’s so much at stake.
You’re in a jail cell in Guantanamo Bay. You’re an American citizen. “Hey,” you say, “I am an American citizen and I want to see a lawyer.” And your jailer says “Prove it. Where is your birth certificate?” And you say “Can’t you see I don’t have it on me? I am naked with a hood on my head and wires stuck to my nipples.” And the jailer says “too bad, terrorist, have you met my dog Spike?”
How do you prove you are a citizen when you don’t have access to the courts?
