I have said before that the future viability of our republic rests perilously in the pen-wielding hand of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Thus far, at least, Kennedy has, as he did two years ago in Hamdan, held fast… as he did again in today’s (naturally, 5-4) decision in Boumediene, holding that the Constitution’s express prohibition against suspension of habeas corpus means exactly that, and hence, Guantanamo detainees have a Constitutional right to habeas corpus relief in American federal courts.
Much more will be written about this in terms of “rebuke” to the Bush Administration, though this is arguably the third such “rebuke”… the difference being that this time, there likely won’t be a Congressional undoing of the
Supreme Court’s ruling, especially this close to an election.
Time will tell. For the moment, for those of us who believe in our Constitution and the primacy of the rule of law, though, this is a good day.
tdog
If I think about it, I am astonished all over again that we are talking about off-shore detention and torture. In the United States. If you had told me 20 years ago that this would happen, I would have said you were crazy. 911 made everything surreal.
Yup. Unprovoked war and torture are part of the New American Century. As American as apple pie.