Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007

The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 (S.185): "A bill to restore habeas corpus for those detained by the United States," was introduced on January 4, 2007 in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-V.T.), with 18 cosponsors. On May 22, 2007, hearings were held on the bill by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and on Jun 7, 2007, the committee reported the bill favorably without amendment.

On December 5, 2006, Sen. Specter introduced the same bill in the 109th Congress as S.4081. The bill was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Related bills in the U.S. House of Representatives are H.R.267, H.R.1189, and H.R.1416.

Bill status


Senate vote
On September 19, 2007, the Senate voted on a cloture motion for including the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act as an amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Department Authorization bill. The final vote was 56-43, just four votes short of overriding the Republican filibuster. Every Democrat voted for the bill as well as six Republicans. Those Republicans were Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), John Sununu (R-N.H.), and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), who sponsored the bill. The only non-Republican who voted against the bill was Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) stated that the Senate's passage of the Military Commissions Act, which suspended habeas corpus for detainees, "calls into question the United States' historic role of defender of human rights in the world. It accomplishes what opponents could never accomplish on the battlefield, whittling away our own liberties."


 * See the vote breakdown at OpenCongress

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 110th Congress
 * Military Commissions Act of 2006

External resources

 * Text of S.185, Thomas.
 * Data on S.185 and Text of S.185, GovTrack.

External articles

 * "Senator Specter Speaks on the Senate Floor to Introduce the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act," Office of Sen. Arlen Specter, January 4, 2007.
 * Jeralyn Merritt, "Bills to Restore Habeas and Detainee Rights Introduced," Talk Left Blog, March 11, 2007.
 * William Fisher, "Battle Over Habeas Corpus Returns," truthout, April 2, 2007.
 * Aziz Huq, "Habeas corpus evaporating," TomPaine.com, May 14, 2007.
 * "Senate Panel Holds Hearing On Restoring Habeas Corpus Rights," Office of Sen. Patrick Leahy, May 22, 2007.
 * Leah Adler, "Historic Vote to Restore Habeas Corpus," Working Assets Blog/WorkingForChange, June 6, 2007.
 * John Bresnahan, "Senate Judiciary Committee passes Habeus bill on foreign terrorism suspects," The Politico, June 7, 2007.