Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Gitmo Detainees

I was just reading the story at Yahoo News, concerning the Supreme Court ruling Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay may challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. This is an important day for those who worried that extra-legal means were being used to keep these detainees at Gitmo, and is a setback for the Bush administration.

In its third rebuke of the Bush administration's treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court's liberal justices were in the majority.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

Kennedy said federal judges could ultimately order some detainees to be released, but that such orders would depend on security concerns and other circumstances.

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