From the February 2008 Idaho Observer:
Are we enduring a case of Rebellion or Invasion?
Somewhere, somehow, someway I became, in the eyes of the State, a terrorist. I never killed a soul in my life, so I am not a murderer. In fact according to the trial transcripts, the assistant DA said, "Thank God there is no evidence in this case."
I was sent to rot and die in a Texas prison. Somewhere along the way, they tossed me in with a lot of terrorists. The sad part is this: They do not realize they are terrorists. How can that be?
According to the Antiterrorism Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) when a prisoner fails to place a Section 2254 or 2255 into the federal court before 365 days after the final conviction, all their God given, constitutionally protected rights are gone! Gone!
The Supreme Court agreed with the Fifth Circuit that an adjudicated sentence does not toll the one-year limitation. If a person is out on the streets and messes up after the one year of his "conviction" he or she has no means to get into any federal district or circuit court. The prisoner is a terrorist (or murderer). The sentence was deferred—not the conviction on a deferred, adjudicated sentence.
A GREAT WRIT does not apply
While I sit in my cell, I have this one simple question that keeps recurring in my mind: "What does this mean?"
According to Section 9, article 2 of the United States Constitution, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion that the public safety may require it."
If I am barred from using the Habeas Corpus then it is suspended to the 2.5 million American citizens that are now considered terrorists. Oddly enough, neither the old Soviet Union, the present Russia nor China does this to their citizens.
And that, my friends, is the America you and I now live in. Remember Kent State (1970) and Waco (1993). Not to mention OKC (1995) and 9/11 (2001).
Hal Parfait, Beaumont, Texas