due process

Guantánamo detainees are 'bad people', says Cheney

What is "due process", and why should I care?

U.S. Constitution
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

An unlimited Executive, with the ability and legal competence to declare any individual a "bad person", an "enemy combatant", or an "enemy of the state" is what this country was founded AGAINST!

If the Executive be able to declare a person "bad" without judicial recourse then we live in tyranny.

"Due process" - habeas corpus, compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor - these are the BASIS of our nation.

Suspension of habeas corpus, invocation of "state secrets privilege", invocation of "executive privilege" - these are the the hallmarks of despotism. An unlimited Executive power is exactly what the Founders denied in The Declaration of Independence.

The "state secrets privilege" is antithetical to this foundation. If the State can arbitrarily assert that evidence in favor of the accused be a "state secret", then we are no longer a nation of laws. We have become a nation of arbitrary, despotic power, exercised by the Executive at will. By another name: tyranny.