The March 2010 issue of Imprimis ( a publication of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan) featured an article by Andrew McCarthy.  Mr. McCarthy was an Assistant U. S. Attorney in the South District of New York.  He led the terrorism prosecutiion agains Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (and others) in connection with the World Trade Center Bombing.  Because of his experience as Assistant U. S. Attorney and his involvement of the trials of the World Trade Center bombers, he understands terrorism very well.

The article deals with the concept of habeas corpus, and Mr. McCarthy explains it in terms that people like me who don’t understand legal jargon can understand.  He points out that Article I, Section 9 of the U. S. Constitution states:

“The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be usspended, unless whne in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

He points out that when our country is in danger, our Constitution adapts and imposes the laws and customs of war.  He also states that, “The Framers of the Constitution understood that the rights we cherish would be little more than parchment promises unless we could defend ourselves and defeat our enemies.”  Unfortunately, in recent history we have lost this principle. 

Mr. McCarthy concludes:

“The Constitution of Justice Jackson–like the Constitution of Presidents Jackson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt–is that of a free, self-governing people. Such a people does not surrender control of the most fundamental political decisions–such as those concerning national defense–to officials who are not politically accountable. Nor should our elected officials voluntarily surrender control of those decisions. We must reject the idea of entrusting our security to judicial processes or we shall eventually find ourselves neither secure nor free.”

Please follow the above link and read the entire article.  It is very enlightening.  This article was quoted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.