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June 29, 2006
US: Supreme Court Rules Against Military Tribunals
The five anti-liberty "liberals" in the Supreme Court of the United States strike again: Supreme Court Blocks Guantanamo Bay War-Crimes Trials
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court delivered a blow to the Bush administration's anti-terror policies Thursday when it ruled that the president was out of line when he ordered military war-crimes trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees.Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion, which said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and Geneva conventions.
A huge question in this case. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, et al, was whether the Geneva Conventions applied to prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. The Bush administration argued that these detainees were not prisoners of war and therefore, not eligible to treatment under the Geneva agreement.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strongly worded dissent, saying the court's decision would "sorely hamper the president's ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy."
The court's willingness, Thomas said, "to second-guess the determination of the political branches that these conspirators must be brought to justice is both unprecedented and dangerous."[...]
I am angry right now, so I'll do my best to avoid an obscenity-laden tirade, but here is what I think right now:
1. Could we please stop the pretense that the Supreme Court of the United States is little more than a second electoral college? Once again, the five liberals in the Court voted one way, while the four conservatives voted the other. (I know the decision was 5-3, because Chief Justice Roberts recused himself, but we do know which way he would have voted.) In almost every important decision, the vote falls along party lines, much more so than in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
2. The United States should drop from the Geneva Conventions altogether; it is not as if they protect our soldiers.
3. I better go read a book or something before I break my promise above.
Posted by Ruy Diaz at June 29, 2006 11:08 AM
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