Judges Question Lack of Prisoner Rights

[Rose Siding]

Three federal appellate judges yesterday expressed doubts about the government's assertion that hundreds of foreign nationals imprisoned indefinitely at a U.S. military base in Cuba have no right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts.

The remarks from all three judges on a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came during oral arguments in the high-stakes dispute over whether the Bush administration is properly detaining prisoners at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and whether special tribunals it established are sufficient to determine the detainees' guilt or innocence.
....
A Justice Department lawyer argued that detaining enemy combatants is crucial to the president's ability to wage war against terrorism. "We live in a dangerous world, and the president needs the authority to act . . . to protect the nation," Gregory Katsas said.

The judges expressed doubts that the detainees had the same rights to due process as U.S. citizens accused of crimes. But they sharply disputed Katsas's assertion that none of the prisoners, most of whom were seized in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, has a right to challenge his detention in U.S courts.

Known as a claim of habeas corpus, the right has been part of U.S. law since 1789.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090801851.html

[Mikimouse]

1. Those damned activist judges, what do they know?

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: