The Smith-Amash amendment repeals the mandatory military detention requirement and bans indefinite detention and military commissions from the United States.
I believe that the NDAA does not authorize military detention here at home, and that it would be illegal for the government to use it that way. But I also know that powerful members of Congress continue to argue that it is ok for the military to lock people up without charge or trial here at home. An explicit statutory ban is needed to ensure that no president or any other government official will ever try to use these practices in the United States itself.
I understand that there is a provision in the NDAA currently that provides that the right of habeas corpus is available in the United States . This does not satisfy my concerns. The question with the NDAA has never been whether habeas rights are lost. Instead, the question is whether and when any president can order the military to imprison a person without charge or trial, and the habeas provision won't stop any president from ordering the military lockup of civilians without charge or trial -- it will just score political points. By contrast, the Smith-Amash amendment solves a real problem.
