ASHFORD POL 201 WEEK 5 Final Paper Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror

The
final assignment for this course is a Final Paper. The purpose of the Final
Paper is to give you an opportunity to apply much of what you have learned
about American national government to an examination of civil liberties in the
context of the war on terror. The Final Paper represents 20% of the overall
course grade.

Soon after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Bush administration
developed a plan for holding and interrogating captured prisoners. They were
sent to a prison inside a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, on land leased
from the government of Cuba. Since 2002, over 700 men have been detained at
Gitmo. Most have been released without charges or turned over to other
governments. In 2011, Congress specifically prohibited the expenditure of funds
to transfer Gitmo prisoners to detention facilities in the continental United
States, making it virtually impossible to try them in civilian courts. As of
April 2012, 169 remained in detention at Gitmo (Sutton, 2012).

An assumption made by the Bush administration in selecting this location was
that it was beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The administration wanted
to avoid any judicial oversight of how it handled detainees, characterized as
enemy combatants. A possible legal challenge to indefinite detention with no
formal charges or judicial proceedings might arise from the habeas corpus
provision of the Constitution.

Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution states, “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.” Under this provision,
persons detained by the government are entitled to a judicial hearing to
determine if there is any legal basis for their detention. Some legal commentators
refer to the right of habeas corpus as the “great writ of liberty”
because it is a prisoner’s ultimate recourse to an impartial judge who can
review the possibility that he is being held illegally by the executive (e.g.,
the police or the military). In nations that do not honor habeas corpus, people
simply disappear into prisons without ever having their day in court.

Several controversial Supreme Court cases have come out of Gitmo. One
fundamental question that has been debated, but not clearly resolved, is to
what extent the war on terror justifies the President’s indefinite detention of
enemy combatants without the possibility of the minimal judicial review
protected by habeas corpus? Another issue in the debate is to what extent
Congress must clearly authorize the President to conduct extra-judicial
detentions in order for them to be legal? In 2008, the Supreme Court’s decision
in Boumediene v. Bush offered some answers to these questions.
However, the deeply divided 5-4 Court and the likelihood of the protracted
nature of the war on terror suggest that debate around these important
questions will continue. Writing the Final Paper in this course will prepare
you to participate intelligently as a citizen in this ongoing debate.

Write an essay about the right of habeas corpus in the context of the war on
terror. Your essay should address the following subtopics:
Explain the historical evolution of habeas corpus, including its English
and American traditions. The explanation of its evolution within the American
tradition should include the general meaning of the right of habeas corpus in
the U.S. Constitution and its relationship to the protection of other civil
liberties.
Provide
examples from U.S. history of the suspension of habeas corpus and their
applicability to the present.
Analyze
the relevance of habeas corpus to the contemporary U.S. situation during the war
on terror, especially with respect to persons characterized by as enemy
combatants or illegal combatants.
Explain
the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the right of habeas corpus with
respect to enemy combatants or illegal combatants (i.e., the views of the five
justices making up the majority in Boumediene v. Bush as well as the
views of the four dissenting justices).
Evaluate
a minimum of four perspectives on this topic expressed by justices of the
Supreme Court, leaders in other branches of government, and commentators in
both the academic and popular media. Your evaluation should consider
perspectives on the following topics as they relate to habeas corpus:
The
role of the President as Commander-in-Chief.
The
role of Congress in determining when habeas corpus can be suspended.
The
role of the Supreme Court in protecting civil liberties, including the judicial
philosophy which should guide the Court in this role, and
In
your evaluation, you should also include your personal philosophy, values, or ideology
about the balance between civil liberties and national security in the context
of an unending war on terror.
Follow
these requirements when writing the Final Paper:
The body of the paper (excluding the title page and reference page) must
be at least 1,500 words long.
The
paper must start with a short introductory paragraph which includes a clear
thesis statement. The thesis statement must tell readers what the essay will
demonstrate.
The
paper must end with a short paragraph that states a conclusion. The conclusion
and thesis must be consistent.
The
paper must logically develop the thesis in a way that leads to the conclusion,
and that development must be supported by facts, fully explained concepts and
assertions, and persuasive reasoning.
The
paper must address all subtopics outlined above. At least 20% of the essay must
focus on subtopic five, listed above (your evaluation of perspectives on the
topic).
Your
paper must cite at least three academic articles (excluding the course
textbook) and at least four other kinds of sources (e.g., Supreme Court
opinions, magazine or newspaper articles, the course textbook, and reliable
websites or videos).
Use
your own words. While brief quotes from sources may be used, altogether the
total amount of quoted text must be less than five percent of the body of your
paper.
When
you use someone else’s words, they must be enclosed in quotation marks followed
by an APA in-text short citation (author, year, and page) to your source. The
in-text citation must correspond to a full APA citation for the source on the
reference page at the end of the essay.
When
you express in your own words someone else’s ideas, arguments or facts, your
statement must be followed by an APA in-text short citation (author, year, and
page) to your source. The in-text citation must correspond to a full APA
citation for the source in the reference page.
The
form of the title page, the body pages, and the reference page must comply with
APA style. Additionally, the title page must include the course number and
name, the instructor’s name, and the date submitted.
The
paper must use logical paragraph and sentence transitions, complete and clear
sentences, and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
For
this paper you need to do research in peer-reviewed journals or other sources
that are considered to have reliable information. In addition to your required
course text, you need at least seven scholarly sources, three of which must be
peer-reviewed journal articles from the Ashford Online Library.
Academic research papers must meet university level standards of quality. What
constitutes quality, academic research?
Primary
sources written by experts in the field of study
Secondary
sources supported by research in primary sources
Credible
sources (experts in the area of study)
Relevant
research (materials are pertinent to the area of study)
Peer-reviewed
journal articles (journal articles reviewed by recognized experts in the
relevant field of study).
Educational
and government websites (those ending with a web URL suffix of .edu or .gov)
may be appropriate in some cases but should be evaluated carefully.