prisoner debate

It looks like the detainee debate goes on. This article gives a good sum up of what the bill actually does. Basically it gives the president huge discretion to decide what an "outrage to humanity" might mean in terms of torture. Unfortunately, this bill does not do what it should do: define how the military can treat detainees. Bush knows from Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that he cannot do what he was doing before, but without the legislature defining the limits, this bill basically gives him the authority to define a detainee plan as he wishes. He probably wishes as much broad power as possible to carry out his executive military powers, but the courts have acted to limit this. Now the legislature won't hold up its corner of the triangle of balanced powers. The hasty passage of the bill and the lack of debate is probably the result of fear of political fallout. Many democrats who are in hotly contested races do not wish to say X means of torture is OK while Y means of torture is out just to see a campaign add against him saying he supports the use of X.

The other issue that is not entirely clear in this bill is what happens when an American citizen is captured as an "enemy combatant." Clearly understanding the constitution is important in this debate, and unfortunately some Senator's lack of understanding is clouding the actual issues. The constitution does not apply to non-citizens, but it does apply to a citizen who is captured as an "enemy combatant." Some Senators who are voting against this bill are claiming that they are protecting their constituents rights, but if their voting constituents' rights are already protected. What they really need to say is that they are protecting their rights by not passing a bill that does not do what really needs to be done: give definition to the very vague Geneva Conventions. The powers that are given to the executive that are not limited can be used to their fullest extent and then we will not even be able to blame the president, because when the legislature had a chance to place distinct limits, it put its hands down and let this bill pass.

If you are curious, you can read the Senate Bill here or another article about it here. It is unfortunate that this Bill is up for debate right now only about a month before the mid-term election, because the consequences could be far reaching. What is conspicuously lacking right now is a cultural debate about what limits we should actually have on our treatment of detainees.