Supreme Court Disallows Guantanamo Trials
Something of a defeat for the Bush administration...
This was the right decision. From my reading of the Constitution the power to create a judicial process for Guantanamo detainees - be it through military tribunal or civilian courts - lays with the legislative branch of our government and not the executive branch.
Article I, Section 8:
Article III, Section 1:
The problem is, from this observer's point of view, that in the past Congress just hasn't done what they need to do. The war on terror has created a need for detaining enemies that fall outside guidelines set by previous laws and treaties (such as the Geneva conventions). There has been a need for new definition and judicial processes for some time now, but the legislators in Congress have ignored that need.
In the absence of guidance from previously established laws and rules and any guidance from the legislative branch the President has attempted to come up with a system to process the prisoners at Guantanamo bay. His solution seems perfectly reasonable to me, but it lacks the approval of Congress which is clearly required in the Constitution.
Let us hope that Congress can approve what the President has already been trying to do with minimal delay so that we can get the Gitmo prisoners their day in court.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court, in major defeat for President Bush's administration, blocked the U.S. military's current terrorism tribunal system, ruling 5-3 the commission's "structure and procedures" violate both military rules and the Geneva Conventions.
President Bush, in remarks made at a late morning press conference with Japan's prime minister, said he hadn't had time to thoroughly review the ruling and said he will work with Congress to get approval to try terrorism suspects before military tribunals.
Justice John Paul Stevens, in a decision that drew five votes on significant points, said the military must revamp the system. The ruling also rejected arguments made by the U.S. government that the Detainee Treatment Act, passed by Congress in December 2005, doesn't block the ability of federal courts to review habeas appeals from detainees.
"We conclude that the military commission convened to try Hamdan lacks power to proceed because its structure and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions," Justice Stevens wrote. "The rules specified for Hamdan's trial are illegal," he added. "The executive is bound to comply with the rule of law that prevails in this jurisdiction."
In his own opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer said, "Congress has not issued the executive a 'blank check.' " He added: "Indeed, Congress has denied the president the legislative authority to create military commissions of the kind at issue here. Nothing prevents the president from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary."
The Bush administration had hinted in recent weeks that it was prepared for the court to set back its plans for trying Guantanamo detainees.
"To the extent that there is latitude to work with the Congress to determine whether or not the military tribunals will be an avenue in which to give people their day in court, we will do so,'' Mr. Bush said in an East Room news conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. "The American people need to know that the ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street." Mr. Bush said little more, saying he had received only a "drive-by briefing" on the ruling just out Thursday morning.
This was the right decision. From my reading of the Constitution the power to create a judicial process for Guantanamo detainees - be it through military tribunal or civilian courts - lays with the legislative branch of our government and not the executive branch.
Article I, Section 8:
The Congress shall have Power... To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations...and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water...[and] To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
Article III, Section 1:
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
The problem is, from this observer's point of view, that in the past Congress just hasn't done what they need to do. The war on terror has created a need for detaining enemies that fall outside guidelines set by previous laws and treaties (such as the Geneva conventions). There has been a need for new definition and judicial processes for some time now, but the legislators in Congress have ignored that need.
In the absence of guidance from previously established laws and rules and any guidance from the legislative branch the President has attempted to come up with a system to process the prisoners at Guantanamo bay. His solution seems perfectly reasonable to me, but it lacks the approval of Congress which is clearly required in the Constitution.
Let us hope that Congress can approve what the President has already been trying to do with minimal delay so that we can get the Gitmo prisoners their day in court.
likwidshoe
robert108
global warrior
RebTex
Hannitized
