After you've read Why I'm Banned in the USA and watched How Rudy Will Make GWB Look Good, complete the trilogy by listening to this show. The original version of this episode won a Peabody award in 2006. The right of habeas corpus has been a part of our country's legal tradition longer than we've actually been a country. It means that our government has to explain why it's holding a person in custody. But now, the War on Terror has nixed many of the rules we used to think of as fundamental. At Guantanamo Bay, our government initially claimed that prisoners should not be covered by habeas—or even by the Geneva Conventions—because they're the most fearsome enemies we have. But is that true? Is it a camp full of terrorists, or a camp full of our mistakes?
From the Peabody web site: This report, about the denial of habeas corpus to terrorism suspects, focuses on the stories of two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners and explains why the right is so fundamental in American law.
You can stream the new episode and download the original one. Habeas Schmabeas 2007 | This American Life, Episode 331 | 
