JURIST - Paper Chase: Bush, Mukasey criticize Supreme Court ruling on Guantanamo habeas petitions

[JURIST] US President George W. Bush Thursday expressed disappointment [press conference transcript] at the Supreme Court's ruling [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that federal courts have jurisdiction to review habeas corpus petitions filed by Guantanamo Bay detainees. Bush pledged that administration officials would honor the ruling, but said that they would also study it to determine if other legislation could be passed to better serve national security. The Court ruled that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text; JURIST news archive] did not limit detainees' right to federal judicial review, but Bush said that the Act set appropriate guidelines for managing detainees. At a Friday G-8 meeting in Japan, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey [official website] also criticized the Court's decision [AFP report], saying it will result in hundreds of detainee appeals to the federal courts. He added that military commission trials of detainees would continue, emphasizing that the ruling addressed procedural issues in the Guantanamo legal process rather than the detention itself. AP has more.

This is the not the first time that the Supreme Court has ruled against the government in a case concerning the legal rights of enemy combatants. In June 2006, the Supreme Court held [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that the military commission system as initially constituted violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Convention. Congress subsequently passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [DOD materials], which established the current military commissions system.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...