I just finished reading Claire's blog entry and it dovetails nicely with a book that I just finished yesterday. It was a 1972 reprint of The Ponca Chiefs by Thomas Henry Tibbles. It a wonderful narative on the trial of Standing Bull in 1879. I happened to be at the university library pulling some books on the Seminoles when I happened to scan the nearby shelves (as I am wont to do) and found this one. It had never been checked out in it's 35 years of sitting on the shelf, so it just screamed at me to be read.
Anyway, it deals with Habeas Corpus, and is the first time that the Government recognized Indians as
persons. It has it all; a military general that was "just following orders", several corrupt BIA bureaucrats, a judge with a firm understanding of a Constitution, a newspaper editor that understands why a free press exists, and an Indian chief with incredible insight.
The reason this pertains to the Gitmo detainees is in his rulling Judge Dundy declares that Habeas Corpus applies to all persons and is not limited to citizens and that even when a detained person is under control of the military he still has recourse through the judicial systems.
For a quick synopsis of the case you can check out this article from the
Nebraska Bar (pdf) but if anyone else finds this book in their library I would recommend that you check it out.
ND