A Step Too Far

The US Supreme Court ruled today that the military tribunals established by Pres. Bush to try prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility are unconstitutional. The Washington Post call the decision "a stunning rebuke to the Bush administration." At the heart of the Court's decision was the finding that "the trials were not authorized under U.S. law or the Geneva Conventions."

Personally, I am heartened, first, that Court agreed to hear the case and, second, that they found the tribunals unconstitutional. Regardless of the guilt or innocence of the prisoners at GitMo, they still deserve the basic human and civil rights set forth by US law (habeas corpus, trial in which they can cross-examine their accusers, etc.) and the Geneva Convention. Pres. Bush *did* overstep his authority in creating these military tribunals with parameters not in keeping with civil and/or military law.

First of all, these men have a right to question their imprisonment if no evidence can be produced to justify their continued detention. If there is sufficient evidence to justify their detention, they then deserve a fair trial either as prisoners of war (in which case, it would be a court martial proceeding) or as common criminals (trial in civilian courts.) Indefinite detention based on speculation with no recourse is unacceptable. It smacks of autocracy and political absolutism. And to go down that road is to become that which we claim to stand against.