Let It Begin Here discusses the President's trampling on not only the Bill of Rights but 800 years of history (and on principles enshrined in law since the Magna Carta) in Casualties of War or Stupidity.

Toby writes of a visit he took to Philadelphia's Independence Hall this weekend:

"At the visitor center, the National Park Service had on display one of the oldest surviving copies of the Magna Carta, signed and sealed by King John in 1215."

"The exhibit highlighted two key points established in the Magna Carta: That no ruler was above the law, and that every “freeman” had the right to a trial by his peers, and could not be subjected to arbitrary death or punishment. The exhibit then went on to detail how this foundation from English civil law was critical for the framers of the constitution. "

"I couldn’t read this without marveling at how cavalierly Pres. Bush has trampled on nearly 800 years of established English common law. Specifically, when he holds American citizens such as Jose Padilla in indefinite detention, without charges, without trial and without disclosing evidence—he is recreating the abuse of power that led to the Magna Carta. My first thought was his audacity is breathtaking. Then I thought, maybe it was stupidity. He may not realize how firmly embedded in our legal system and society is this fundamental right to trial in open court. "

The American Bar Association's Task Force on Treatment of Enemy Combatants, comprised of military law experts, prosecutors, judges and defense counsel, issued a report last month criticizing the indefinite detention of American citizens such as Hamdi and Padilla under the guise of being "enemy combatants."

The ABA sharply disagrees with the Justice Department's view that enemy combatants who take up arms against America, including those who are U.S. citizens, are not entitled to enter the criminal justice and court systems.

In a nutshell, the report calls for detained citizens to have the right to counsel and judicial review of their cases. The message: You don't need to suspend the Constitution to accept the importance of intelligence gathering.

The report clearly distinguishes the Quiran case from WWII that the Justice Department and its spokespersons rely upon--the report is encrypted so we can't copy that part here--so go over and read it.