A Majority of the Senate Votes to Restore Habeas

A bipartisan majority of the Senate voted this morning to restore the rights of legal resident and non-citizen detainees to an independent judicial review of their detention, a right that was denied by the passage of last year’s Military Commissions Act. Unfortunately, the 56-43 vote was not enough to overcome a filibuster. For more information on the flaws of the Military Commissions Act, go here. Here’s the Washington Post‘s coverage of today’s vote:

A Republican filibuster in the Senate today shot down a bipartisan effort to restore the right of terrorism suspects to contest their detentions and treatment in federal courts, underscoring the Democratic-led Congress’s difficulty with terrorism issues.

The 56-43 vote fell short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and move to a final vote on the amendment to the Senate’s annual defense policy bill. But the measure did garner the support of six Republicans, a small victory for its supporters.