Judge Lewis Defends Habeas Corpus

Judge Timothy Lewis co-authored an op-ed commentary titled “Protect Our Rights,” which was published in the September 26, 2006 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The piece addresses the lawfulness of Section 6 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. A group of retired federal judges sent a signed letter to members of Congress about this issue last week. The judges stated their opposition to any attempt to strip federal courts of habeas corpus jurisdiction over pending cases of Guantanamo detainees. In the letter, they emphasized that a habeas petition is “momentous because it safeguards the most hallowed judicial role in our constitutional democracy – ensuring that no man is imprisoned unlawfully.”