SCOTUS Backs Detainees At Gitmo Against BushCo

Detainees at Guantanamo have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts. This is the third time the Bush administration has been admonished by the court in its efforts to deny rights.

The court has ruled twice previously that people held at Guantanamo without charges can go into civilian courts to ask that the government justify their continued detention. Each time, the administration and Congress, then controlled by Republicans, changed the law to try to close the courthouse doors to the detainees.

The court specifically struck down a provision of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that denies Guantanamo detainees the right to file petition of habeas corpus.

Habeas corpus is a centuries-old legal principle, enshrined in the Constitution, that allows courts to determine whether a prisoner is being held illegally.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.