"The laws and constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."
In a decision released today restoring to Guantanamo detainees the right to appeal there detention in Federal Courts, Justice Anthony Kennedy writes "The laws and constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."
That is precisely the argument millions of us have been making for the last seven years.
I'm the first to rip Kennedy when he gets it wrong, i.e. Bush v Gore; let me be just as quick to applaud when he gets it right.
The scary part, of course, is that 44% of the Supreme Court apparently believe the Constitution grants the President dictatorial powers in time of war, even lacking an actual declaration.
Stalinist secret trials with secret evidence have no place in the United States. Not at any time. Not under any circumstances. It's time to shut down the kangaroo courts at Guantanamo and try the defendants in American courts, win or lose, for the world to see.