Restoring Habeas Corpus

Boumediene v. Bush - Decision 06/12/08

Striking a huge blow to the Bush administration's aggrandizement of executive power, the Supreme Court has issued a 5-4 decision restoring the full scope of the ancient writ of habeas corpus and reasserting our country's commitment to its core constitutional principals.  Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, struck down the provisions of the Military Commissions Act and the Detainee Treatment Act that purported to strip federal courts of jurisdiction over habeas petitions by non-citizens who have been labeled "enemy combatants" by the executive branch.  Citing centuries of legal precedent, beginning with the Magna Carta, the majority rejected the Bush administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The Court held that the President may not circumvent the Constitution's requirement that the detainees be given a fair hearing before an impartial judge, and in doing so have paved the way for people who have been held for six years without charge to finally get their day in court.   

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