In a massive blow to the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favor of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the opinion below, Justice Kennedy delivers the opinion of a lifetime: holding faithfully to the Constitution in a time of prolonged crisis.
Kennedy writes: “We hold that Art. I, §9, cl. 2, of the Constitution has full
effect at Guantanamo Bay. If the privilege of habeas
corpus is to be denied to the detainees now before us,
Congress must act in accordance with the requirements of
the Suspension Clause.” Amen, Brother, amen.
He further adds that ““The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right of first importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law.”
While Kennedy’s opinion was an impressive treatment of the role and history of the Great Writ, Scalia’s opinion read like a snaring rant in comparison. Some highlights:
– “America is at war with radical Islamists. … Our Armed Forces are now in the field against the enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq. . . . The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed . . . The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today.”
It was a disappointing opinion with the same fear-mongering and sensational language that we see on late night cable programs. Roberts’ dissent was more moderate but still reflected a shocking passive and reduced role of the courts.
As much as a relief as this decision is, it is important to remember how close we can to the loss of this fundamental right. What citizens need to understand is that it is meaningless how many rights are contained in a Constitution, if the government can deny you access to the courts to vindicate those rights. Kennedy’s opinion is an attempt to educate citizens on the centrality of the Great Writ. One can only hope that a few people in Congress will read this opinion and leave the Constitution alone. When Bush refers to the need for more legislation, the only obvious piece of legislation would be a formal vote to suspend habeas — a step that even these members should be incapable of doing.
For a copy of the opinion, click here.
test
Celebrating B4 reading the ruling makes for embaressing statements:
The Court stressed that it was not ruling that the detainees are entitled to be released — that is, entitled to have writs issued to end their confinement. The Court also said that “we do not address whether the President has authority to detain” individuals during the war on terrorism, and hold them at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba.
bader:
“How is a 5 to 4 decision a massive blow? All it shows is the Supreme Court is as divided on protecting America as ever. Now a 9 to 0 vote would have been a “massive” blow….”
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While I usually hate responding to your drivel, I must say that by your “logic” the Patriot’s 3 point loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII was just a minor set back in their quest for an undefeated season. Five to four is “massive” enough for me when you start with a 3 vote handicap.
And a little civics lesson from the SCOTUS opinion for our neo-fascist friends who think that our leader on horseback got license to trample the Constitution simply because he might have gotten more votes on election day 2000:
“The Constitution grants Congress and the President the power to acquire, dispose of, and govern territory, not the power to decide when and where its terms apply. To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say “what the law is.” Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 177. These concerns have particular bearing upon the Suspension Clause question here, for the habeas writ is itself an indispensable mechanism for monitoring the separation of powers.”
Montesquieu would be proud.
Sounds like the media is getting it wrong; no freedom for the Gitmo detainees as a result of this ruling. In their rush to hype the headlines they forgot to read the whole opinion.
Gitmo detainees beat Bush, and it is a triumph for the Constitution and civil liberty, at long last. The Bush Administration has ravaged the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Conventions, the separation of powers, the system of checks and balances, and has allowed corporate corruption and special interests to rule the roost, all to the detriment of the nation. The USA is fast becoming another inconsequential third world country. The recent performance over the past 7 years of our system of justice, up to today, was dismal, starting with the decision in Bush v. Gore. Now Scalia, Roberts, Alito & Thomas ask why these Gitmo detainees couldn’t wait for the outcome of preliminary proceedings in District Court, and yet the same idealogues issued the ruling that erroneously put Bush in the White House rather than waiting for the vote counts, recounts and Florida state courts to resolve the issue lawfully. The election process has been bastardized nationwide by Bush loyalists by inserting unreliable, perverted electronic voting machines in the process. Politics was allowed to subvert justice, freedom and the will of the people; the Dept. of Justice has become a useless appendage of the White House under a continuum of Bush co-conspirators like Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey. They sacrificed the people and real justice in the name of political BS, hiring unqualified idiots from Regent University, allowing qualified people to be fired for reasons that had nothing to do with qualifications or performance, and acting as if they were counsel to the President instead the Highest Law Enforcement officer in the nation. Maybe this slap in the face to Bush will reverberate throughout the federal government so that the justices who voted against this opinion will begin to think more honestly, and government employees at every level will start to do what is right, not what works best for the Republicans. Freedom and justice in America used to be said to shine like a beacon to the rest of the world, beckoning all to come for a better life. So much for that notion! The US economy is in the tank with no hope for recovery. Gas and oil prices will achieve a redistribution of wealth on a global basis that serves no-one but the multi-national corporations and the idealogues who are their minions. Jobs, the middle class and industry in the US are being lost forever, but even if we, as a people, are left destitute, if true justice and freedom can be rejuvenated, America will survive and will return to its position of greatness like a Phoenix rising up out of the ashes. If justice and freedom are to mean anything, they must exist for all, in or out of the USA, and we better start showing it. Europe and the rest of the world have no respect for America already because of 8 years of lying, cheating and stealing by Bush and his fellow criminals. For once, someone stood up to him and his cohorts and slapped him and his dictatorial style notions down. Now if the Dems in Congress who are too timid to stand up to Bush could only find some backbone, the Gitmo detainees and the rest of us in America would stand a chance at fairness and equality under the law. No-one is above the law, especially not Bush. What was done at Gitmo, Abu Gharaib, and under the horrific rendition program subjects all Americans to a greater risk of being tortured or abused in the future, and that behavior justifies prosecuting Bush in an international tribunal for crimes against humanity. Bush makes Milosevic or Saddam Hussein look like boy scouts. As for the 4 other votes on SCOTUS, maybe now is the time for them to consider retirement or resignation; it seems that the older justices have more to offer America than the younger justices who do not seem to have an honest bone in their bodies. Hopefully the Supreme Court will use this opinion today as a jumping off point to turn the tide and stop this 7.5 year long, rampant assault on individual freedoms and justice. Sacrificing freedom in the name of security got us nothing. Good luck to us all.
maybe i don’t need to move to europe now.
“Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson (from “Self-Reliance”)
whooliebacon wrote:
> Time we rethink lifetime appointment.
I’m not in favor of doing away with the lifetime appointment of federal judges, but does underline how important it is that they be closely scrutinized by the Senate.
California, I recently learned, has an interesting approach to its state supreme court. Justices there are appointed by the governor, but must be confirmed in office by public vote during the next general election cycle, and every twelve years after that. That seems to strike a good balance between judicial independence and accountability to the people.
time to stack the court. no magic to the number nine.
Professor:
One of the dissenters said the opinion would have limited effect. SHould they have ordered the prisoners released since there is now no legal basis for Guantanamo and their detention? Why did they choose to send them back to the lower court? Is that an adequate remedy for being held illegally for years?
ALSO FOR THE RECORD WHAT KIND OF JUDGE CHERYL ALEMAN MAKES A MAN LAY IN JAIL WHEN PRISON GUARD OFFICIALS SAID PLEASE U NEED TO SIGN THE RELEASE THIS MAN IS DYING HERE HE NEEDS TO BE TRANSPORTED TO A HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY WE CANT KEEP HIM HEAR IN THIS CONDITION HE NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION THAT ALONE IS TOTAL (INHUMANE TREATMENT)
TO TAKE PLACE IN THE MOST CIVILIZED COUNTRY ON THE WORLD SHAME ON THIS MEAN, RACIST AGAINST JEWISH PEOPLE, AND PEOPLE WITH AIDS IGNORED THE GUARD OFFICIALS AND REFUSED TO RELEASE HIM FOR THAT ALONE SHE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE A JUDGE ANYMORE “GOD IS WATCHING THAT ALL US HUMAN BEINGS DO THE RIGHT THINGS, AND GOD PUT US
IN POSITIONS BUT US HUMANS ARE NOT “GOD” I KEPT UP ON ALL NEWPAPER ARTICLES CONCERNING THIS MATTER AND JUDGE THANK U A CONCERNED CITIZEN
Time we rethink lifetime appointment.
“Scalia said the nation is “at war with radical Islamists” and that the court’s decision “will make
the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”
Republican talking points from a US Supreme court justice.
Disgusting.
I feel like crying. No sarcasm.
Does anybody notice that the Catholics on the supreme court seem to go by some other document then the constitution. How many followers of the Antichrist do you think signed the document or for that matter even fought in the revolutionary war? That this was a split decision is an embarrassment to the country. It speaks strongly and loudly how we have evolved and degenerated maybe even morphed into a very different type of country.
How about this:
Massive blow to Bush, scary news from the Supremes?
This should have been a 9-0 opinion and I doubt I need to look to see who is on which side of the opinion.
Maybe we are thinking of Impeachment of the wrong branch?
Those four of the nine have the power to send us back 250 years into their “dysfunctional utopia”: dreams about how they thought the world was and should forever be.
Can anyone say “scary jurisprudence”?
WOW!
Badger
It’s massive because it was the centerpiece of Bush’s bombastic, testosterone-sotted and ultimately illegal attack on the US Constitituion. Bush/Cheney contended the Presdident alone could suspend or ignore the Constitution. This decision not only restores or confirms the rights of the detainees, it reminds us that Bush/Cheney are not kings. The Constitution wins and exposes further the twisted machinations and convoluted legal theories this administration has employed.
It’s also massive because the administration has four seats on the Supreme Court they’ve bought and paid for. Four seats would never go along with the chacanery Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas would permit, so the administration’s challenge was to get Kennedy to go along. After nearly six years of legal wrangling they couldn’t convine just one more person to be complicit in their crimes.
Perhaps our country really is about to re-emerge from the national nightmare of the Bush administration.
Yes, this is a ‘missive blow’ for George W. Bush. He LOST. You win….. Victory! You lose… Massive Blow! The real winner: the Constitution. Amen is an understatement.
How is a 5 to 4 decision a massive blow? All it shows is the Supreme Court is as divided on protecting America as ever. Now a 9 to 0 vote would have been a “massive” blow, but not 5 to 4. However, tonight the liberal media will tout this as a “massive” blow when in fact everybody watching it with a brain will be thinking “5 to 4?, wow, sounds like it was a close decision, maybe it is better to err on the side of protecting America from these guys in Gitmo”.