On the day the Foley scandal broke, the Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which includes a provision that eliminates habeas corpus from the canon of United States law. Habeas corpus is an ancient right of citizens to be informed why they have been arrested and what charges are being brought against them.

The Constitution allows habeas corpus to be suspended under two conditions: “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

But the new law does not suspend habeas corpus. It eliminates it.

On Countdown last night, Keith Olbermann examined the potential damage that could be done to American democracy if the law is allowed to stand. He went through each provision in the Bill of Rights suggesting how elmininating habeas corpus makes nine of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution moot. If you are imprisoned for no reason, First Amendment rights to free speech and Second Amendment rights to bear arms are of no use to you.

Crooks & Liars has the video and a rough transcript.

UPDATE: Here is a link to the text of the section that suspends habeas corpus indefinitely:

SEC. 7. HABEAS CORPUS MATTERS….

`(e)(1) No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.