Supreme Court ruling on detained terrorists is welcomed

The Supreme Court ruling that foreign terrorist suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay have constitutional rights to challenge their detention in US courts is a welcome affirmation of our national values and commitment to the Constitution.

In rebuffing the Administration’s assertion of the power to disregard the right of habeas corpus to detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, the Court was performing its proper role as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. It is the duty of the Supreme Court to safeguard constitutional rights and to challenge and counter balance the Bush Administration’s expansive view of executive power and its aggressiveness in asserting its interpretation of its proper authority.

“Both Congress and the Supreme Court have a role to play in ensuring that the balance of power between the three branches is maintained,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause. “This Administration has consistently cited extraordinary circumstances related to security issues as the basis for the need to infringe upon the civil rights of Americans, subvert the Constitution, and defy international law. We are heartened to see the Supreme Court function in the way it has, and we urge Congress to do the same.”

The court ruled Thursday in the case of Boumediene v. Bush.