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Top court allows Guantanamo
By James Vicini 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Guantanamo Bay U.S.
By a 5-4 vote, the high court overturned a ruling that upheld a law President George W. Bush pushed through the Republican-led Congress in 2006 that took away the habeas corpus rights of the terrorism suspects to seek full judicial review of their detention.
"We hold these petitioners do have the habeas corpus privilege," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court majority in the 70-page opinion, portions of which he read from the bench.
Habeas corpus is a long-standing legal right that allows prisoners to challenge their confinement by the government. Kennedy said Congress had failed to create an adequate alternative for the prisoners held at theU.S. Cuba
The 2006 law allowed for a limited review by aU.S. Washington U.S.
Kennedy said the court's ruling did not address whether Bush has the authority to detain the prisoners. He said this and other questions on the legality of their detention must be resolved by the federal judges.
Amnesty International, which has campaigned for the prisoners' rights, welcomed the ruling. "The Supreme Court did the right thing. Everyone has the right to challenge why they're being thrown in prison, to hear the charges against them and to answer to that," Daila Hashad, Amnesty's domestic human rights program director, said.
"It's a real shame that in the 21st Century, we've taken such a step backward in the Bush Administration, to say we have the right to throw someone in jail and throw away the key -- but no longer."
The majority consisted of the court's four liberals -- Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, plus the moderate conservative Kennedy, who often casts the decisive vote.
The four conservative dissenters were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both appointed by Bush, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
OTHER PRIOR DEFEATS
The high court has ruled against the administration in two previousGuantanamo
Congress adopted new measures including the 2006 law aimed at keeping such cases out of court by stripping the prisoners of their habeas corpus rights under federal law.
The ruling marked the first time the court has held that theGuantanamo
Kennedy said the prisoners are not barred from habeas corpus review because they have been designated enemy combatants or because of their presence atGuantanamo
TheGuantanamo Cuba U.S.
"The entire basis for the existence ofGuantanamo Bay Guantanamo
"It's a victory for all Americans because it reinforces the principle that no person or agency is above the law."
There now are about 270 prisoners atGuantanamo
Bush has acknowledged the prison's damage to theU.S.
The ruling involved two cases.
One consisted of about 30 detainees from a number of countries, includingKuwait Yemen Afghanistan Bosnia United States
Justice Scalia read portions of his dissent from the bench. He warned of the "disastrous consequences of what the court has done today."
"Today, for the first time in our nation's history, the court confers a constitutional right to habeas corpus on alien enemies detained abroad by our military forces in the course of an ongoing war," Scalia said.
By James Vicini 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
By a 5-4 vote, the high court overturned a ruling that upheld a law President George W. Bush pushed through the Republican-led Congress in 2006 that took away the habeas corpus rights of the terrorism suspects to seek full judicial review of their detention.
"We hold these petitioners do have the habeas corpus privilege," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court majority in the 70-page opinion, portions of which he read from the bench.
Habeas corpus is a long-standing legal right that allows prisoners to challenge their confinement by the government. Kennedy said Congress had failed to create an adequate alternative for the prisoners held at the
The 2006 law allowed for a limited review by a
Kennedy said the court's ruling did not address whether Bush has the authority to detain the prisoners. He said this and other questions on the legality of their detention must be resolved by the federal judges.
Amnesty International, which has campaigned for the prisoners' rights, welcomed the ruling. "The Supreme Court did the right thing. Everyone has the right to challenge why they're being thrown in prison, to hear the charges against them and to answer to that," Daila Hashad, Amnesty's domestic human rights program director, said.
"It's a real shame that in the 21st Century, we've taken such a step backward in the Bush Administration, to say we have the right to throw someone in jail and throw away the key -- but no longer."
The majority consisted of the court's four liberals -- Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, plus the moderate conservative Kennedy, who often casts the decisive vote.
The four conservative dissenters were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both appointed by Bush, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
OTHER PRIOR DEFEATS
The high court has ruled against the administration in two previous
Congress adopted new measures including the 2006 law aimed at keeping such cases out of court by stripping the prisoners of their habeas corpus rights under federal law.
The ruling marked the first time the court has held that the
Kennedy said the prisoners are not barred from habeas corpus review because they have been designated enemy combatants or because of their presence at
The
"The entire basis for the existence of
"It's a victory for all Americans because it reinforces the principle that no person or agency is above the law."
There now are about 270 prisoners at
Bush has acknowledged the prison's damage to the
The ruling involved two cases.
One consisted of about 30 detainees from a number of countries, including
Justice Scalia read portions of his dissent from the bench. He warned of the "disastrous consequences of what the court has done today."
"Today, for the first time in our nation's history, the court confers a constitutional right to habeas corpus on alien enemies detained abroad by our military forces in the course of an ongoing war," Scalia said.
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