In what strikes me as an upset, the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the D.C. Circuit and ruled in favor of Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan.
Of course you’re upset, Johnny, because now the detainees at Guantanamo are going to get something resembling a day in court – which they might actually even be able to attend – rather than languishing in purgatory for as long as George Bush and his factotums see fit.
In one of the funniest “sour grapes” statements that Spot has seen in a while, Johnny concludes with this:
For now, the one apparent implication of Hamdan is that hundreds of Guantanamo detainees will become participants in the American judicial system. If they thought Gitmo has been a strange and disorienting experience, they haven't seen anything yet.
It’s always nice when an officer of the court speaks so highly of the system!
Boys and girls, you should have no illusion that the matter is settled. There is a constitutional crisis brewing. Listen to Bush’s careful parsing of words in commenting on the decision:
President Bush today said that he would comply with the ruling and would work with Congress "to have a military tribunal to hold people to account'' that would meet the Court's objections.
But he stressed his determination not to release suspected terrorists merely because the administration's tribunals had been rejected.
“The ruling won’t cause killers to be put out on the streets,’’ he said. "I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of the American people.'' [italics are Spot’s]
The majority ruling was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, who was joined in parts of it by Justices David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote a concurring opinion.
Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel J. Alito Jr. dissented. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did not take part in the case, since he had ruled in favor of the government as an appeals court justice last year.
What does that mean exactly? Does it mean that Bush intends to hang on to people even if they are cleared by a court or tribunal having minimal standards of due process, just because he thinks they might have done something but the administration can’t come within a country mile of proving it? Spot believes that is exactly what Bush means.
Spotty says dust off your copies of Marbury v. Madison, boys and girls, because you’re going to need it.
Tags: Guantanamo detainees, Power Line blog
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