Washington, DC—On June 12, 2008, the Supreme Court released a 5-4 decision repudiating the detainee policies championed by the Bush administration. In an opinion authored by Justice Kennedy, the Court ruled that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay can raise habeas challenges to their detentions and that the Military Commissions Act passed by Congress does not provide an adequate substitute for habeas corpus rights.
»To read Alliance for Justice's statement on the decision, CLICK HERE
»To read Alliance for Justice's analysis of Boumediene v. Bush, CLICK HERE
HABEAS COUNTDOWN QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."
-Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the Court in Boumediene v. Bush
ARCHIVE: Past Quotes of the Day
In the politically charged atmosphere of the 2006 mid-term elections, the
Republican-controlled United States Congress passed the Military Commissions Act. Most alarmingly, the MCA eliminates
for many individuals the historic and fundamental right to a writ of habeas copus. The MCA also allows the government nearly unfettered
discretion to determine which individuals are declared "enemy combatants," to hold these individuals indefinitely without
charges, and to deny them fundamental judicial rights, including the meaningful opportunity to appear
before a judge and contest the charges against them.
What Is Habeas?
Habeas corpus, which permits the accused a fair hearing in front of a neutral judge, is the most fundamental check on executive power in our Constitution. The United States Supreme Court asserted that habeas “is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against lawless state action.”
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