Judge Andrew P. Napolitano: Can federal judges alter the Constitution?
Fox News
Judges cannot add to the Constitution’s requirements nor subtract from its protections.
One of the arguments that the British government had made was that the rights of Englishmen -- which included the right of habeas corpus -- only applied to persons in England. So the framers included language in the Constitution that prohibited the suspension of the right except in cases of rebellion or invasion of such magnitude that the courts could not sit. Like most rights in the Bill of Rights, the Constitution does not grant the right of habeas corpus -- which comes from our humanity -- but prohibits the denial of it. When Congress attempted to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in 2006, denying the jurisdiction of federal courts to hear habeas applications from any detainee at Guantanamo Bay, the Supreme Court, in a landmark case called Boumediene v. Bush, invalidated Congress’ attempts to interfere with the application of constitutionally guaranteed liberties. It did so for several reasons. There was no invasion or rebellion in the U.S. preventing the courts from sitting. And, assessing the validity of constitutional rights is a judicial not a congressional function.More Related News