A Ruling on the Rights of the Detained

Original Source Letters To the Editor: Re: Justices, 5-4, Back Detainee Appeals for Guantánamo (front page, June 13): The Supreme Court’s decision marked the third time the court has rebuked this administration’s lawless actions at Guantánamo. It shows that the judiciary will not lie down while this or any administration further harms the health and sanity of the men who have been held there in harsh conditions with no due process for the last six and a half years. The decision will go a long way to eliminating any future temptation to engage in lawless abuses because no court is watching. The executive may no longer falsely claim credit for detaining and incapacitating terrorists when in many documented cases they have just swept up innocent men and hidden them from scrutiny. We have been working tirelessly representing the detainees since the day they arrived, and the Supreme Court has answered our call for justice. Now it’s imperative that the lower courts move with full speed in adjudicating the prisoners’ cases so they do not spend one more day than necessary without a fair hearing. Vincent Warren Executive Director Center for Constitutional Rights New York, June 13, 2008