Justice delayed

From the New York Times, a federal appeals court today voted to uphold the constitutionality of a new law that strips federal courts of the authority to review the cases of foreign prisoners held by the military at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

By a 2-to-1 vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the law, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, did not violate a provision in Article 1 of the Constitution that prevents the government from suspending habeas corpus — the right of a detained person to challenge the legality of the detention — except in “cases of rebellion or invasion.”

The case will be appealed to the Supreme Court (as long as they grant Cert), and Democratic lawmakers are promising to introduce new legislation that would all federal courts the ability to consider habeas petitions by detainees.

This is a very important development, and it will be interesting to see if the Supreme Court ends up throwing the smack down on this ridiculous travesty of justice.

Check out this synopsis from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. And be sure to check out this old Keith Olbermann rant on the Military Commissions Act.