We are proud to welcome Brandon Mayfield as our first guest blogger at Project Hamad. His story is a cautionary one for anyone who thinks the suspension of habeas corpus, or the passage of the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), have no implications for the civil rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens. A Kansas-born U.S. Citizen, a former Army Lieutenant, an attorney in Portland, Oregon, Brandon Mayfield was wrongly accused and incarcerated for the terrorist bombings in Madrid, Spain. Prior to his arrest the FBI had Mr. Mayfield and his family under warrantless surveillance and Mr. Mayfield is reasonably certain they broke into his house twice during this time period.

The FBI was positive they had a fingerprint match with one found on detonators in Spain. The fingerprint was described as a “100% match”, an “absolutely incontrovertible match” and a “bingo match.” On the other hand, when they sent Mayfield’s prints to the Spanish authorities they replied that his prints were “conclusively negative.” The FBI later admitted that Mayfield’s Muslim faith may have caused them to disregard the repeated reservations of the Spanish authorities regarding the fingerprint.

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STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Specter Leahy
Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. Leahy): S. 4081. A bill to restore habeas corpus for those detained by the United States; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. SPECTER: Mr. President, I introduce legislation which is captioned “Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2006” which I introduced on behalf of myself and Senator Leahy. The legislation which was adopted earlier this year on war crimes struck out habeas corpus jurisdiction of the Federal courts, sought to limit jurisdiction of the Federal courts on habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees and others detained on charges of being enemy combatants or war criminals.
There was very extended debate on the issue at that time. The bill reported by the Armed Services Committee and backed by the administration eliminated the jurisdiction of the Federal courts. I offered an amendment to reinstate habeas corpus. It was defeated 51 to 48. This legislation would reinstate habeas corpus jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

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