GUANTÁNAMO-SUPREME COURT BRIEF FILED TODAY ARGUES THAT EXECUTIVE BRANCH IS NOT ABOVE THE RULE OF LAW

[kpete]

At the heart of this case is the government's attempt to stand above the law," said Judge John J. Gibbons, who argued Rasul v. Bush before the Supreme Court in 2004. "The U.S. government has forcibly seized and jailed these men, and held them under its exclusive control for nearly six years without charges. It is precisely such abuse of government authority and disregard for the law that the Constitution, habeas corpus, and the courts are designed to restrain."

GUANTÁNAMO SUPREME COURT BRIEF FILED TODAY ARGUES THAT EXECUTIVE BRANCH IS NOT ABOVE THE RULE OF LAW
Brief Argues Detainees in U.S. Custody Possess Fundamental Constitutional Rights

August 24, 2007, New York, NY - Today, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) attorneys and co-counsel submitted a ground-breaking brief to the Supreme Court in the case that will determine whether detainees at Guantánamo possess the fundamental constitutional rights to due process and habeas corpus.

The brief was filed on behalf of men from the first habeas corpus petitions submitted immediately after the landmark 2004 Supreme Court decision in CCR's case Rasul v. Bush. Al Odah v. United States, as the case is now called, has been consolidated with a related case, Boumediene v. Bush; both challenge the Military Commissions Act (MCA), which attempted to strip away the statutory right to habeas corpus the Supreme Court recognized in 2004 and replace it with a far more limited review process set up by the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA).

"These men have been held unlawfully in abusive conditions while the courts and Congress debate whether they should have any rights," said CCR President Michael Ratner. "We have been back and forth in the courts as the government has tried one maneuver after another to avoid the Supreme Court's 2004 ruling that the detainees are entitled to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. We hope the Supreme Court will end this travesty once and for all, and provide full, fair and prompt hearings, which are the very foundation of a free society."

The Court ruled in Rasul that the Guantánamo detainees' right to habeas corpus was consistent with the common law. Given that the U.S. Constitution protects the common law writ of habeas, the brief filed today argues that the government is attempting to stand above the law and the Constitution of the United States when it imprisons people and denies them the right to have courts review the legality of their detention. Because there is no invasion or rebellion within our borders, under the Constitution Congress cannot suspend habeas corpus.

more at:
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/newsroom/releases/pReleases.asp?ObjID=ykF81tQQfJ&Content=1095

Nearly 20 amicus briefs were also filed in support of the cases today, from a broad range of sources that include former federal judges, former JAG officers, legal historians, the bi-partisan Constitution Project, and 383 UK and European parliamentarians.

[aquart]

1. That's a difficult decision for the Roberts Court.

However will they decide?

[HuffleClaw]

2. can't they simply refuse to hear it?

iirc they've done that before on crucial issues so BushCo. could continue its evildoings.

[aquart]

5. Yup.

[lovuian]

3. its an obvious ruling If the Supreme Court destroys

Habeas corpus the fundamental right since the Magna Carta then there is NO Justice in America
we are ruled by a King George

I don't think the Supreme Court wants to hear this ... Bush is getting very close to being a war criminal

[mzmolly]

4. This is getting very interesting.

*gulp*

[aquart]

6. Close?

[in_cog_ni_to]

8. Getting close? HE IS a war criminal and the Justices know it...but don't care.

Politics is more important to them. THIS is what all the wacko RWers have been waiting for for years and years. Their day is finally come. Just watch. They will rule in favor of the War Criminal Dictator.

[bobthedrummer]

9. There are many war criminals, war profiteers and traitors in this criminal administration

and the similarities to all the papering over of our Constitution and Bill of Rights and what the Nazis did during the rise of the Third Reich is profoundly striking-the criminal "legalisms" since this administration was installed by a 5-4 SCOTUS "decision" regarding the Florida "recount" has resulted in the Decider's own version of Enabling Acts.

That real Nazi influence came from real Nazis that found a political home in the RW of The Republican Party, then the philosophy of extremists like the Straussians made hybrid extreme fascism universal and struck pragmatic alliances with everyone they could use, everyone that they could deceive with false appeals to nationalism, militarism, faith, patriotism, etc combined with the 21st century tech available to propagandize, indoctrinate and politically control human beings, all in the context of corruption.

Short form, he is a war criminal by design those crimes are "legal", that's why culture of death ideologues like John Yoo, Viet Dinh, Alberto Gonzales and many others had input into pieces of paper that plastered over our Constitution and Bill of Rights, took US out of international agreements and treaties and became the foundation and conceptual framework of HOMELAND(tm) after 9-11 "changed everything".

IMPEACH AND INDICT THEM ALL-CHENEY FIRST.

[bobthedrummer]

11. .

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Gee...can't wait to hear the decision on this one.

:eyes: I wonder who they'll side with?:eyes: I know for a fact that Scalito, Roberts, Scalia and Kennedy are ethical, non partisan judges.:sarcasm:

[bobthedrummer]

10. .

[bobthedrummer]

12. The interim AG, Paul D. Clement, represented Donald Rumsfeld et. al.

in the Gitmo related cases-which they lost

Here's a bit more about Rumsfeld et. al.'s losing attorney-now the temporary replacement for AGAG

"BREAKING: AGAG's interim replacement-Cedarburg's own Paul D. Clement" (8-27-2007 post from an informative active parent thread)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=186x21683#21964

IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST!