HLS Affiliates Blast Detainee Bill

A coalition of Harvard Law School (HLS) professors and students sent an open letter and petition to Congress this Tuesday, urging Washington to reject the detainee bill. But despite their efforts, the bill passed in Senate yesterday to a 65-34 vote, after more than 10 hours of debate.

According to the letter, the bill “would rob individuals detained by the United States of the hallmark of American freedom, the right of anyone detained by the government to demand to know why and to challenge the conditions of confinement before a federal court.”

The effort, spearheaded by Smith Jr. Professor of Law Martha Minow and Clinical Professor of Law James L. Cavallaro, amassed more than 600 signatures from law professors in 49 states.

Thirty law school professors from Harvard alone signed the petition.

The bill under attack was S. 3929, a compromise bill between Congress and the Bush administration that authorizes military tribunals for detainees.

The petition letter briefly caught the attention of Washington. On the Senate floor two days ago, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D, VT) referred to the letter, supporting the professors’ position.

Though the bill passed, those involved in the petition said last night that they would continue to raise awareness about the issue.

Students plan to send copies of the full letter to every senator, second-year law student Deborah A. Popowski said.

Popowski was among around 20 other law students, members of HLS Advocates for Human Rights, and members of the College Advocates who worked around the clock to solicit signatures for the petition and to contact Congress officials.

“The issue moved so many people that individual students, people who weren’t necessarily affiliated, would come in and spend hours doing any bit they could to make things happen,” Popowski said of the petition.

Third-year law student Stephanie E. Brewer ’04 said she was inspired by “how a dedicated group of students and professors [could] come together on such short notice and pour all their time and effort into this, effect some change, and let themselves be heard.”

The open letter to the Senate asserted that the bill would undermine fundamental principles such as separation of powers, due process, habeas corpus, and fair trials.

The letter listed the elimination of habeas corpus review for non-U.S. citizen detainees as one of its key objections. The new legislation, according to the letter, would effectively allow President George W. Bush to detain individuals indefinitely, give Bush almost sole authority to interpret the international standards of the Geneva Conventions, and arbitrate the permissibility of certain prisoner treatments or interrogative techniques.