I read with great joy this morning about the Supreme Court's ruling in the Guantanamo Bay case. Apparently there are limits to the President's war powers. This is a huge ruling from the Court, and one that should be applauded. I particularly liked that the Court cited the Geneva Convention in the ruling, remarking that "military tribunals" would violate Article 3 of the Geneva Convention.
Of course the Court has given Bush an out -- he has to get Congress to pass legislation allowing the trials to go forward, and then he can do what he wants. Congress has already leapt into action, and there seems little doubt that they will give Bush what he wants. But at least the process was respected and followed, and this does matter.
Bush has really stretched, and at times, completely broken, the system of checks and balances that are the heart and soul of our government. That the Court recognized this, and issued a rebuke (even a tepid one), is a step in the right direction. Someday we might actually get to where we should be; with full civil liberties for all.
1 comment:
Full civil liberties for all? I think we'll have to wait until sometime after January 20, 2009 for that to occur. And, that's only if the electorate can remove their craniums from their sphincters enough to choose someone with reasonable respect for the Constitution.
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