Court's Gitmo Ruling a Judicial 'Power Grab'

Former Justice Department official says justices overstepped boundaries
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2008 5:23 PM CDT
Court's Gitmo Ruling a Judicial 'Power Grab'
A prisoner is escorted at Guantanamo Bay.   (Getty Images)

The Supreme Court's decision on Guantanamo Bay detainees got such praise from newspaper editorials that one might think a “dictator” had been stopped “from trampling civil liberties,” writes former Justice Department official John Yoo in the Wall Street Journal. In fact, the ruling is an unprecedented judicial “power grab” that defies the Constitution and gives terrorists the same rights as citizens.

The court ignored the fact that no other captured foreign fighters have been allowed to use the American justice system to challenge their detention. Now our military officers will be stuck with “a judge’s view” on proving that a suspect on a battlefield is a terrorist—and may have even to read Miranda rights to new captures. How to fix? Elect John McCain, who criticized the ruling, instead of Barack Obama, who praised it. (More Boumediene stories.)

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