SuperScout
12-19-2003, 06:42 AM
Two federal courts yesterday rebuked the Bush administration, ruling that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base should have access to attorneys and U.S. courts, and separately deciding that President Bush had no authority to detain an American citizen arrested on U.S. soil as an enemy combatant.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco described the administration's detention of 660 terrorism suspects at Guantanamo, arrested by U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan, as "running roughshod over the rights of citizens and aliens alike."
In a 2-1 decision, on a petition filed by a relative of a captured Libyan, the panel said it was the "obligation" of the judicial branch to "ensure the preservation of our constitutional values."
"We cannot simply accept the government's position that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included, on territory under the sole jurisdiction and control of the United States, without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum, or even access to counsel," said Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was appointed by President Carter.
[Editor's Notes: where were these sterling examples of judicial activism when we had thousands of enemy POW's during WWII, Vietnam and every other war? Thankfully, they weren't appointed to the federal bench, where they are now, doing harm to our country through their stupidity. Have these morons ever heard that the President is also the CinC, with distinct responsibilities as outlined in the US Constitution? This begs the question: when was the last time any of these troglodytes ever read the Constitution? Hopefully, the DOD will appeal this decision, and keep all those salivating legal leeches marking time on the beaches of Florida, waiting to invade Gitmo, with their empty wallets and emptier heads.]
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco described the administration's detention of 660 terrorism suspects at Guantanamo, arrested by U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan, as "running roughshod over the rights of citizens and aliens alike."
In a 2-1 decision, on a petition filed by a relative of a captured Libyan, the panel said it was the "obligation" of the judicial branch to "ensure the preservation of our constitutional values."
"We cannot simply accept the government's position that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included, on territory under the sole jurisdiction and control of the United States, without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum, or even access to counsel," said Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was appointed by President Carter.
[Editor's Notes: where were these sterling examples of judicial activism when we had thousands of enemy POW's during WWII, Vietnam and every other war? Thankfully, they weren't appointed to the federal bench, where they are now, doing harm to our country through their stupidity. Have these morons ever heard that the President is also the CinC, with distinct responsibilities as outlined in the US Constitution? This begs the question: when was the last time any of these troglodytes ever read the Constitution? Hopefully, the DOD will appeal this decision, and keep all those salivating legal leeches marking time on the beaches of Florida, waiting to invade Gitmo, with their empty wallets and emptier heads.]