InAlienable2008

[Speaking to a witness on the stand]

Howard Ellis:
What is your profession, sir?

Professor Randolph Barnett:
I was the Carmack Whitehouse Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University.

Howard Ellis:
The petitioner maintains that the United States government is holding Benjamin without cause. This flies in the face of habeas corpus, does it not?

Professor Randolph Barnett:
Well, habeas corpus is the most important safeguard of personal freedom we have against arbitrary state action; and for all practical purposes, it's a hundred times more important than constitutional guarantees of individual liberty.

Howard Ellis:
Now, it's been determined by scientists - employed by the federal government [he glances at prosecutor Victoria Barry] - that approximately 12 percent of the genetic material found in Benjamin is mirrored in the DNA of Dr. Eric Norris. Now, in your expert opinion, sir, would this qualify the subject in question to the rights and privileges of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, including the writ of habeas corpus?

Professor Randolph Barnett:
Well, when I was younger, considerably younger, people's rights in some states in this country were determined by what percentage of his genetic inheritance was white and what percentage was of another race. An octaroon, for example, is a person whose blood is one-eighth African American. And it was a crime for such a person to vote or to marry someone who was black. And that racist law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1967.

Howard Ellis:
Do you see any difference, sir, in restricting the rights of a person who is one-eighth black and denying the writ of habeas corpus to Benjamin because he is one-eighth human blood?

Professor Randolph Barnett:
I do not.