Yesterday, President Bush signed an executive order on the "trial of alien unlawful enemy combatants by military commission." The order allows the U.S. government to proceed with prosecution of suspected "unlawful enemy combatants," using "hearsay evidence" & "testimony obtained through abusive interrogation techniques." The defendants can be denied access to any classified exculpatory evidence. Bush's move is a "technical step required by the Military Commissions Act of 2006," "a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation's version of the Alien & Sedition Acts."

The president's executive order comes a day after Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-CT) introduction of the "Restoring the Constitution Act."

The bill would restore habeas corpus protections to Guantanamo Bay detainees; create an independent court review to military commission rulings & bar information obtained through torture. Dodd - who has said he takes "a backseat to no one when it comes to protecting the country from terrorists" - justified his challenges to the Military Commissions Act: "[I]n taking away [detainees'] legal rights, the rights first codified in our country's Constitution, we're taking away our own moral compass, as well."

The legislation, which is predicted to receive "bipartisan support" in Congress, addresses the major concerns of several prominent human & civil rights organizations including Human Rights Watch.