Clinton's Legacy: Crippling of the Great Writ, a Bedrock of Liberty FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, April 24, 1996 WASHINGTON -- With the stroke of a pen, President Clinton today crippled the century-old authority of the federal courts to enforce the Bill of Rights. In an elaborate White House ceremony, the President ignored the objections of a diverse group of organizations and signed the so-called counterterrorism legislation, which contains a number of unconstitutional provisions, including the use of secret evidence in deportation proceedings. Most disturbing, however, the ACLU said, are the provisions -- also of questionable constitutionality -- that will tear the heart out of the great writ of habeas corpus, a bedrock feature of the American criminal justice system. "When historians write the story of civil liberties in the 20th Century," ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser said, "they will say that the Clinton Administration adopted an agenda that has everything to do with weakening civil rights and nothing to do with combating terrorism." In a letter to President last week, the ACLU said that the terrorism legislation "would strip the federal courts of their authority and responsibility to enforce the Bill of Rights -- not just in death penalty cases, but in all criminal cases." Contrary to common wisdom, only 1 percent of habeas petitions are filed by prisoners on death row. "Responsibility for defining the very meaning of the Constitution would be given over to the states via a provision that would require Federal judges to defer to state court decisions on Constitutional claims -- even if those decisions are wrong," the letter said. "This is an agenda that has everything to do with weakening civil rights and nothing to do with combatting terrorism." In the letter, Glasser asked that President Clinton "not allow the fundamental right of habeas corpus to be crippled during your Administration." Glasser said today that he is deeply disappointed in the President. "It is a sad day for all Americans," Glasser said, "when the President of the United States chooses political expediency over the Bill of Rights." Transmitted: 4/24/96 4:13 PM (n042496a) -- Stanton McCandlish
mech@eff.org

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