Key Guantánamo cases hit Supreme Court today

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Key Guantánamo cases hit Supreme Court
The high court hears two cases Wednesday that challenge the basic US terms of detention at the prison camp.
By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the December 5, 2007 edition

Reporter Warren Richey discusses two potential landmark cases before the US Supreme Court involving America's treatment of Guantánamo detainees.


WASHINGTON - Habeas corpus – the right to test the legality of one's detention before a neutral judge – is widely recognized as a cornerstone of government rule by law and the most basic guarantee of individual freedom. The Founding Fathers deemed it so fundamental that they wrote it into the body of the Constitution itself.

But does that core freedom extend overseas to America's enemies in the war on terror?

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court takes up two potential landmark cases examining the legality of America's treatment of terror suspects at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prison camp.

The stakes are enormously high, not just for the detainees but for the Bush administration as well. If constitutional and other legal rights extend to the 305 enemy combatants currently being detained at the naval base, administration officials, military officers, interrogators, and others could be forced by federal judges to appear in open court to reveal every detail of how detainees were captured and treated – including harsh interrogation methods and alleged torture. If the administration refuses to comply, the remedy under habeas corpus is immediate release from custody.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1205/p01s02-usju.html