The Long Road for Habeas

Yes, the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, but it didn't get one Republican vote other than Arlen Specter. So I don't see this getting the 60 Senate votes needed for cloture. Once you enshrine something into law, it's much harder to get it repealed. Doesn't mean that it doesn't happen on occasion, but it's far more difficult.

And restoring habeas, while vital, is fairly narrowcast, despite the need to go further, and much respect to Chris Dodd for saying so:

Some Democrats are pushing Reid to go further, advocating more comprehensive human rights protections and a repeal of the entire Military Commissions Act. Senator Chris Dodd, the most aggressive defender of the Constitution in the presidential race, is pushing legislation that would not only restore habeas, but also ban the use of evidence obtained through torture and recommit the U.S. to the Geneva Conventions. "We must recognize that our security is enhanced by upholding our nation's historic legal principles as we vigorously pursue terrorists," he said in a statement today. Dodd is giving a major address about his proposal at the Cardozo School of Law Commencement exercises in New York on Thursday, part of a larger effort to prioritize Constitutional rights on the national agenda – and in the presidential campaign. The Dodd Campaign has gathered over 10,000 "citizen cosponsors" for his bill, the Restoring the Constitution Act, while using YouTube, blog and netroots outreach to rally more support.

Obama, Clinton and Biden, the other Senators in the presidential race, have cosponsored the habeas legislation but not Dodd's bill, which currently has eleven cosponsors. The legislation faces an uphill battle in the Armed Services Committee, a much less hospitable venue for Constitutional rights than the Judiciary Committee. But there is one influential Armed Services member who opposed the Military Commissions Act and could jump start the effort to restore Constitutional rights: Hillary Clinton.

Dodd's best answer in the Democratic debate was his last, when he said his top priority as President would be to restore Constitutional rights. It's absolutely vital. When you have a long road like this, you need leaders to step up and do the hard work. Memo to the other candidates: you can lead on this. If Hillary Clinton really wants to unite the party, she can get out into the spotlight.