U.S. Judge Says Gitmo Tribunals Unconstitutional

Today Justice Joyce Hens Green, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, struck down the Guantanamo Detainee tribunals underway as unconstitutional.


In a setback for the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green also ruled the prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have constitutional protections under the law.

"The court concludes that the petitioners have stated valid claims under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and that the procedures implemented by the government to confirm that the petitioners are 'enemy combatants' subject to indefinite detention violate the petitioners' rights to due process of law," Green wrote.

Of course this doesn't mean the tribunals will cease tomorrow. An earlier District Judge for the District of Columbia dismissed habeas petitions on the part of other detainees on the 19th, stating that they were not afforded constitutional protection from the military tribunal process. Both decisions are certain to be appealed, which means they'll be taken up by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and whatever the decision, they will probably be heard by the Supreme Court, though probably not until next year at the earliest. The Supreme Court has already weighed in on the illegality of holding the detainees indefinitely without some sort of process by which to determine their status; now they will find themselves deciding whether the Bush administration's solution of military tribunals is going to cut it.

If you're interested, the 75 page "unclassified" version available to the public is here (pdf format.)