The US Supreme Court is about to decide whether Guantanamo is above the la

[shraby]

Later this week, possibly tomorrow, the United States Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on whether Guantanamo Bay can remain beyond the rule of law. Credulous viewers of Fahrenheit 9/11 - who leave the cinema believing America is under the control of oil executives and Saudi royals who bought the Bush family and stole the 2000 election with the connivance of Supreme Court judges - may be shocked by the verdict. Lawyers for the detainees are convinced they will win and that the court will deliver a verdict which will humiliate the Bush and Blair administrations. (Assuming, that is, they have the intellectual capacity to be shocked by discordant information.)
Predicting the decisions of judges is a dangerous game, and it's foolhardy for journalists to try to report tomorrow's news today, although that never stops us having a punt. Lawyers are often in a fantasy world when they wait for a verdict. Even in private, they rarely admit their client is as guilty as Crippen and is going to be sent down. Civil liberties lawyers in particular have to have an optimistic disposition. If they didn't, the repeated triumphs of experience over hope would be too much for them.

None the less, from the moment the Supreme Court stunned the Bush administration by agreeing to hear the Guantanamo appeal, the US Centre for Constitutional Rights, which brought the case, and the civil liberties law firms and pressure groups which have been supporting it, have been remarkably cheerful. Their confidence springs from the enormity of what Bush has done.

He has created a parallel justice system in which suspects can be picked up in secret and interrogated without restraint. Their defence counsels are appointed by the Pentagon and can refuse to keep confidential instructions confidential. Their prosecutors, also appointed by the Pentagon, can keep evidence from them even if it proves their innocence. Their judges at the military tribunals, who once again are Pentagon appointees, can change the rules of the court at any time, order that their trials be held in secret and refuse to compel the attendance of witnesses who might clear their names. At the end of the hearing, they can be executed if found guilty.

(more)

<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1248345,00.html>

[Malva Zebrina]

1. So?

Who cares? The SC is bought and paid for, Who cares what they say?

It is simply another corrupt arm of American corporatism not giving a shit about we the people, you know, we the little people who do not have a huge salary or a huge bank account.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. SCOTUS decision is telling

If they side with Bush, then hello tyranny. The whole world will realize we're an outlaw state. And Bush will take it as carte blanche to either cancel the election or call all dems "terrorists' so they aren't allowed to vote.

[shraby]

3. Scares the bejesus out of me!

Bush will have carte blanche to do exactly what he wants to and when.