Posted by Tina Grazier
They sit on the highest court in our land and command the respect of the entire nation but the men and women who serve on the Supreme Court are capable of making mistakes. As the dust settles on the case Boumediene v. Bush we may find that the courts decision did more harm than good.
Fred Thompson, in a piece titled Boumediene: A Supremely problematic Court Decision posted at TownHall.com has enumerated the various rights provided to enemy prisoners that this decision has struck down:
The right to hear the bases of the charges against them including a summary of any classified evidence. ** The ability to challenge the bases of their detention before military tribunals modeled after Geneva Convention procedures. (38 detainees have been released as result of this process.) ** The right, before the tribunal, to testify, introduce evidence, including exculpatory evidence, call witnesses, cross examine the government witnesses and secure release if and when appropriate. ** The right to the aid of a personal representative in arranging and presenting their cases before the tribunal. ** The right to have the government search for and disclose to the detainee any evidence reasonably available to it tending to show that the detainee is not an enemy combatant. ** The right to appeal an adverse decision from the tribunal to the Federal DC Circuit Court along with the right to employ counsel and secure release if entitled to it. ** The right to petition the DC Circuit to remand a detainees case for new tribunal consideration if the petitioner comes up with newly discovered evidence. ** The right to require the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct a yearly review of the status of each prisoner including the right to have the Secretary of Defense review any new evidence that may become available relating to the enemy combatant status of a detainee. ** As a part of that yearly review, the opportunity for the detainee to explain why he is no longer a threat to the United States, which could lead to his release. ** The DC Circuit can order release of the prisoner, and the head of the DOD Administrative Review Boards can, at the recommendation of those panels, order release upon an appropriate showing.
What the court has done is create a great deal of uncertainty and confusion while undermining the more than adequate, and in fact very generous, rights given to these men. If we were looking for justice or fairness this ruling has accomplished neither. I’d like to thank Fred Thompson…if our media were doing it’s job we would have had this information long ago. I highly recommend this article.