Justice William O. Douglas' thoughts on habeas corpus

[unhappycamper]

I was reading Justice William O. Douglas’ “Russian Journey” (published 1956) last evening and came across these passages on pages 149~150. The name of the chapter was “The Police, the Courts – and the Law.”

There is, however, no sign of the emergence in Russia of the writ of habeas corpus. The Great Writ is the citizen’s key to the door of his prison, the one that enables him to obtain a judicial hearing on the legality of his confinement. It’s a potent weapon for control of the police. It’s the citizen’s check on the despotism that puts him behind bars. When the Great Writ is available, man’s liberty has a basic guarantee unknown in the lands of dictatorship. Russian laws penalize officials who hold men in prison beyond the allotted time. But they give the prisoner no relief against the unlawful arrest or the detention that flows from whim or caprice.

I discovered that many lawyers and judges in Russia never heard of habeas corpus. Of course, learned professors in Russian universities know the Great Writ and its long history. But as the lean, thin Minister of Justice Kirgizia told me at Frunze one afternoon, “Habeas corpus? Yes, we know about habeas corpus. But it’s what we in Russia call a part of the theoretical branch of the law.” There is, indeed, no Communist regime that would tolerate the Great Writ.

I think Justice Douglas would be appalled at The Detainee Torture Act of 2006.

[originalpckelly]

1. The Republicans use the same techniques and act like the Soviets.

Pretty sad isn't it?