The Controversy over Curtailing Habeas Corpus Rights: Why It Is a Bad Day For The Constitution Whenever Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Testifies

FindLaw columnist and former counsel to the president John Dean discusses the ongoing controversy over the Bush Administration's attempt to curtail the constitutional habeas corpus rights of Guantanamo prisoners. Dean focuses, especially, on a recent colloquy between Senator Arlen Specter and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the subject -- contending that the position Gonzales took (that the Constitution does not guarantee habeas corpus rights, but merely sets out conditions for their suspension) is egregiously wrong: an Anti-federalist position rejected some 220 years ago. Dean also details and evaluates Gonzales's reaction to Specter's charge that Gonzales failed to keep his word with respect to a compromise in which Gonzales had promised to respect Congressional oversight rights.

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