Action Item

In a close vote on Thursday, the Senate passed an amendment that would strip the already severely limited legal rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. They would not be able to challenge their detentions in U.S. courts - a right that prisoners have since the founding of this country!

You are in a unique position to help correct this grievous error - the Senate will vote again on this issue - as early as TODAY.

• I oppose Senator Graham's amendment stripping courts of their authority to review detainee cases.
• The courts have been the one place where there has been meaningful oversight and review of Administration policy on detention and interrogation. We need the courts to continue to play this important role.
• The U.S. is being criticized worldwide for its treatment of detainees. This amendment, by undermining the rule of law, takes us a step in the wrong direction.
• I urge you to reject the Graham amendment.

"The Senate acted unwisely, and unnecessarily, in stripping courts of jurisdiction over Guantanamo detainees," Elisa Massimino, our Washington director, said in the New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/politics/11detain.html?pagewanted=1 on Friday. Read the article if you would like to learn more before calling: