“The Right to Be Present”

The Washington Post published an article on Thursday, which explained that Guantanamo prisoners were only allowed to attend the first full habeas corpus hearing via audio link. And a nonfunctional link at that. Sensing absurdity, I wrote a letter to the editor, which the Post graciously printed.

Episode 4. Larry May on Habeas Corpus

Are habeas corpus petitions, as Barack Obama put it, “the foundation of Anglo-American law”? Or are they just nuisance lawsuits, “whether it be about the diet, whether it be about the reading material,” that will just slow down the legal system and leave us “bollixed up,” as John McCain claims? On this episode of Public Ethics Radio, we discuss these issues with Larry May.