Today thousands of activists are descending upon Capitol Hill to join the ACLU, Amnesty International, and more than 50 other groups in calling on Congress to restore the Constitutional rights that President Bush eliminated last fall when he signed into law the Military Commissions Act. ACLU executive director Anthony Romero wrote about the Day of Action this morning for The Huffington Post:
We must put this Congress on the spot now, not hand off these problems to the next administration. We must fight for legislation to restore our civil liberties. It’s time to shut down Guantanamo and transfer those detainees who should remain in custody to civilian courts or military courts martial, where they can be tried before impartial arbiters. It’s time to restore integrity to our laws — restore habeas corpus, stop the illegal spying, stop the torture — and recapture our moral legitimacy as a great democracy.
With David Keene of the American Conservative Union and the Constitution Project’s Liberty & Security Initiative, Anthony also co-wrote some observations on today’s events.
If you can’t make it to the Day of Action in person, you can still participate in this historic event by signing the petition and calling your members of Congress. And watch the live webcast of the event, which will feature speakers Patrick Leahy, Dennis Kucinich, Christopher Dodd, Tom Harkin, Jerrold Nadler, John Conyers, and many others. And Gabe Rottman from FindHabeas.com will be posting video blog entries of interviews with some of these speakers.
