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| D.C. Circuit Hits A WoT Home Run | |
| 2010-01-11 | |
Even viewed in isolation, the decision has considerable weight. The 2-1 ruling was handed down in the case of a Guantanamo detainee seeking release through a constitutional, or habeas, review of his case. But instead of being a paean to the power of the writ of habeas corpus, language in the opinions supporting the ruling may instead serve as a rallying cry for those who say it is time for the president and Congress to face reality and recognize the old rules no longer apply. U.S. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote the majority opinion, and a separate concurrent opinion agreeing with the majority document. In that second opinion, in a highly unusual departure from judicial custom, Brown sets out a chilling vision of the stakes and new tactics in the war against terror. "War is a challenge to law, and the law must adjust," Brown wrote. "It must recognize that the old wine skins of international law, domestic criminal procedure or other prior frameworks are ill-suited to the bitter wine of this new warfare. We can no longer afford diffidence. This war has placed us not just at, but already past the leading edge of a new and frightening paradigm, one that demands new rules be written. Falling back on the comfort of prior practices supplies only illusory comfort." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is sometimes called the second highest court in the land. It reviews all cases arising from Guantanamo claims, and its decisions in that venue must be followed by the other U.S. circuit courts of appeal. The decision brought a response from Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project. "After eight years, the continued detention of prisoners without charge is an affront to the Constitution," Hafetz said in a statement. "Today's court opinion is a setback to justice and the rule of law. The unnecessary endorsement of excessive military detention power and the suggestion that America is free to defy international law flouts all precedent and, if actually adopted, would jeopardize America's security as well as its values." | |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #12 JohnQC: Comparing the rise of Condoleeza Rice and Janice Brown to "close to the apex" of non-elective power in the US, makes you wonder if there are more black girls and women out there like this. Talk about role models! Rice's father was a reverend who personally guarded his house from racists with a gun, while his daughter practiced her piano indoors. He firmly told her that she would have to be twice as good as a white person to overcome discrimination. She put that into practice. Judge Brown is also from Alabama. The two were born only five years apart. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-01-11 13:50 |
| #11 We're not a signatory of some of the Geneva Conventions, 49 Pan? Really? You want to make that case? Now, we've not signed on to the crazier Seventies-era extensions which legalized non-uniformed combatants and all that Gramscian rubbish, but the old Geneva set is still very much the law of the land. I sympathize with Judge Brown, but I suspect as long as that addlepated middle-of-the-road simpleton Kennedy is on the Supreme bench, this sort of "screw international law we ain't signed on to" thinking isn't going to make it past SCOTUS. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2010-01-11 11:50 |
| #10 Hah, so it doesn't take a "wise Latino woman" to make a good decision? "War is a challenge to law, and the law must adjust," Brown wrote. "It must recognize that the old wine skins of international law, domestic criminal procedure or other prior frameworks are ill-suited to the bitter wine of this new warfare. We can no longer afford diffidence. This war has placed us not just at, but already past the leading edge of a new and frightening paradigm, one that demands new rules be written. Falling back on the comfort of prior practices supplies only illusory comfort." There is hope coming from the Judicial Branch. Our founding fathers were indeed wise and inspired in the creation of the basis for our country. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-01-11 11:14 |
| #9 The Constitution is a "breathing" document (as the left would say), and now will deal with radical/political Islam. |
| Posted by: HammerHead 2010-01-11 10:32 |
| #8 I might add that such a forceful decision moves U.S. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown to the head of the list as a SCOTUS nominee. Ironically, in her youth she was a rabid leftist, "almost Maoist" in her own words, but she has now become a confirmed constitutionalist conservative. She *was* a W. Bush nominee, who the Democrats stonewalled for two years. Otherwise she has a similar biography to Condoleeza Rice. One heck of a biography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Rogers_Brown |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-01-11 09:53 |
| #7 I wasn't sure whether it was good news or not, at the beginning of the article. When I saw the ACLU's take, I knew it was really good news. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-01-11 06:43 |
| #6 Wow. Hope. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-01-11 05:36 |
| #5 Give it time. The left will do something to eff it up. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-01-11 00:36 |
| #4 And now we see why the lefties stalled Judge Brown's nomination for years. If the Trunks ever manage to nominate and elect a rational President again she should be atop that person's short list for appointment to the Supreme Court. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2010-01-10 21:58 |
| #3 America is not a signator to the Geneva convention, nor any UN war conventinons, or any of that. We only answer to the constitution, and for good reason. Any country that wants to impose its will on the United Stated will be met with total destruction. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-01-10 20:45 |
| #2 The Constitution is not a suicide pact. Under the Geneva Convention, these mooks can be given a drumhead court martial and then executed. They are not soldiers. They are not civilians. They are illegal combatants. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-01-10 19:40 |
| #1 good news |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-01-10 18:54 |