Supreme Court decision
01/July/2006 05:55 Filed in: Civil Rights
The Supreme
Court yesterday decided that the President of the
United States cannot take prisoners in Guantánamo Bay
and assign his own judges and courts to try them. The
fact that the Executive, again, is trying to grab
more power by creating kangaroo courts is just
another example of why Americans need to fear the
direction of the country. Defending the
administrations attempt to bypass true courts and
issues of habeas corpus, Ann Coulter said yesterday
that the Constitution intended that we have checks
and balances between branches of government UNLESS we
are at war. She said, "In wartime, all of that is
reversed. That's why the Constitution vests the
entire commander-in-chief powers in one man, not in
branches, not with checks and balances." Of course,
since we are continuously at war--now and
forever--because of the nebulous definition of "war
on terror," we no longer can have a system of checks
and balances. The Republicans have made a new grab
for unlimited executive power. The President has
power to declare war without congress, can detain
anyone without rights by calling them an "enemy
combatant," and now has attempted to disregard
military tribunal rules and maintain courts overseen
by the President himself. Thankfully, the Supreme
Court, has seen the coming danger.