Ponder, if you dare, what it will mean if the GOP-led Congress gets its wish to suspend habeas corpus. "Habeas what-us?!" you are no doubt thinking.
Before we get to the Latin lesson, I want it noted that this effort to turn America's clock back to the days of sundials was initiated by a Senator (Graham) from a state that still flies the Confederate flag at its state house, and was aided by five Democrats, including Joe Lieberman, as well as a president and vice president who are both losing their marbles. Bush has sealed off the Oval Office, reports the Washington Times , to anyone but his mommy, his surrogate mommy (Laura), his nanny Karen Hughes and his dominatrix Condi Rice. I particularly like the sleazy way Graham shoved his amendment to suspend habeas corpus up the ass of a defense appropriations bill, which the Senate then passed 49 to 42.
Hey, it's only a little habeas corpus, what's the biggie? Consider, just for a second, what this might mean: If you incur the wrath of Bush/Cheney, then the loss of habeas corpus could mean you rot in a jail cell until you die. You will not be charged with a crime, you will not be allowed to contact a lawyer or even your next of kin. The beautiful logic of such fascism is this: if you're in a jail cell you must have done something wrong.
In Latin, habeas corpus means "you have the body." In the language of the law, it refers to a person who is in police custody. In some cases, the "body" is illegally detained and, in a free society that body can obtain a writ of habeas corpus. This writ, usually procured with a lawyer's help, commands the jailer to produce the prisoner before a court of superior jurisdiction in order to determine if the detention is unwarranted or illegal. If it is, the writ requires that the "body" be released immediately. In theory, habeas corpus is a powerful deterrent against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment that dates back to antiquity. In practice, before the age of Bush, most people who'd been illegally arrested or detained in the U.S. were released by the cops or brought before a magistrate for a preliminary hearing sooner than it would take to obtain a writ of habeas corpus.
Maybe it's the fancy-shmancy hoity-toity sound of the Latin words that offends the simpleton sensibilities of the Republican Party. And, if so, maybe they have their eyes on other Latin prizes, like amicus curiae ("friend of the court"), a useful tool that has protected Roe v. Wade in front of the Supreme Court for 30+ years; jus soli ("law of the land"), which means a person is a citizen of the country where he/she is born, which keeps Republicans from heaving Mexican infants into the ocean off San Diego; ex post facto ("after the fact"), is guaranteed in Article I of the U.S. Constitution; pro bono ("for the good of the whole") prompts attorneys to offer legal services free of charge to clients who can't afford them (battered wives, AIDs victims, homeless, elderly, handicapped), which, in the spirit of compassionate conservatism, obviously means it too must be suspended ("no free lunch, you gimps! pro bono smacks of Communism!"); jus sanguinis ("the law of blood"), which allows me, despite having been born in Japan to an American colonel, to run for and win the U.S. presidency; obiter dictum ("by the way"), which leaves a trail of precedence for future rulings and which normally (Thomas and Scalia, excepted) keeps demagogues from making arbitrary rulings; corpus delicti ("body of the offense") is often invoked in homicide cases where the victim's body can't be found, which will become a common occurrence when habeas corpus is eliminated (can't you just see Bush doing a hilarious riff on his WMD search routine: "Body? What body?! Is it under my desk? Is it in Turdblossom's quivering jowls?"); voir dire (from the French, "to speak the truth"), an intricate system that is used to choose a fair jury ("Jury? What's that? etc.); writ of mandamus ("we command"), issued to public officials who refuse to perform their jobs, or businesses whose practices violate the law, such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Target pharmacies that refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills or emergency contraception due to their "beliefs."
Come to think of it. Take habeas corpus away and the whole superstructure of 3,000 years of legal history comes crumbling down.
What's the Latin phrase for "the shit has hit the fan"?
