Comments (8)

bob wrote on December 13, 2006 6:11 PM:

Bio: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/robertson-bio.html

Appointed Dec. '94 (i.e. Clinton), he's the judge who resigned over the FISA Court violations, so he's no partisan.

The explanation in the AP article isn't clear enough to understand what really happened. Hamdan is at Gitmo, which is not really a foreign military prison. I think Robertson probably is just following the law passed by Congress and letting the Supremes decide the constitutionality of the law.

ted wrote on December 13, 2006 9:47 PM:

I would go further. Foreigners have no rights under our U.S. constitution and consequently Federal judges should have no jurisdiction over issues concerning them, with the exception of rights accorded to foreigners under international treaties signed by the U.S. The Constitution is a social contract, solely between U.S. citizens and their government. As such, it is immaterial to what foreigners can expect from our government, either in the U.S. or outside of it.

GeorgeWashington wrote on December 13, 2006 10:21 PM:

I would say America has lost its way.

The Courts have sold out American Liberty for political office. We the People, are now faced with an impending Dictatorship as Congress and the Courts have failed their duties to protect the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights was put in to protect the individual from tyranny by the Government. The Courts and Congress have so far removed themselves from We, the people, that they are now servants of the Government, not of the People.

We the People have failed to hold our government accountable and thus if we are not the masters of our government, we will be its slaves.

We who would not be slaves, must make this government accountable to the People. Nov 7 was a start, more is needed!

http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/farewell/text.html

mike wrote on December 13, 2006 11:28 PM:

Ted is just plain wrong about the rights of foreign citizens in the US. Generally speaking (except in immigration matters), foreigners on US soil have the same rights and privileges as citizens, plus whatever additional rights might apply under international treaties, and in earlier detainee cases, the Supreme Court has held that constitutional limitations apply to detainees in the "war on terror."

However, under Article III, Sec. 2 of the Constitution, the Congress has the right to regulate the operation of the federal courts. This has long been interpreted as including the power to limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts. However, Article I, Section 9 contains a specific provision which prohibits the Congress from suspending habeas corpus, except when necessary for public safety in cases of insurrection or rebellion.

I expect that the decision will come down to a test of whether the Congress can limit the jurisdiction of the US courts in such a way as to make that Article I prohibition meaningless.

Habeas corpus has always been the cornerstone of our constitutional rights, since it permits anyone detained by the authorities to challenge their detention in a court of law. A decision by the Supreme Court that permitted the Congress to suspend habeas corpus would be a watershed restriction of the fundamental rights of Americans, and upholding this law could lead to the destruction of all of our rights.

Given the present composition of the Supreme Court, I think this may be a much closer question than most knowledgeable persons would expect.

The cop-out would be for the Court to restrict application of the Constitution to US territory, but I think that would be contrary to the recent decisions that permitted detainees to challenge their detention, even though they are held "outside" the US at a US base.

justadood wrote on December 14, 2006 1:05 AM:

I'm with bob...looks to me like he's ducking the ruling, and pushing it upstream. Seems he doesn't want to be the one to rule on the cinstitutionality of the MCA, or whatever the law is that he's applying here,

diego277 wrote on December 14, 2006 2:56 AM:

!Que mandemos Judge Robertson a Guantanamo! Let's send Judge Robertson for a leetle vacation in that new beachside "gated community" called Guantanamo. !Que asco!

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