In reviewing the opinions of the Supreme Court in their Hamdan decision today, it seems pretty clear what action the Bush administration will take in the future with the detainees of the war on terror. More to the point, we know what action they will not take, at least if we rely on Justice Stevens' opinion. On page 80, in section VII of his opinion, Stevens writes:

We have assumed, as we must, that the allegations made in the Government’s charge against Hamdan are true. We have assumed, moreover, the truth of the message implicit in that charge—viz., that Hamdan is a dangerous individual whose beliefs, if acted upon, would causegreat harm and even death to innocent civilians, and who would act upon those beliefs if given the opportunity. It bears emphasizing that Hamdan does not challenge, and we do not today address, the Government’s power to detain him for the duration of active hostilities in order to prevent such harm. But in undertaking to try Hamdanand subject him to criminal punishment, the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails in thisjurisdiction.

Shorter Stevens: Don't attempt to hold trials at all for GWOT detainees, and you will have no problems with us. That affirms the treatment of these detainees as POWs in some sense, but in that effort, it makes clear that these detainees have no rights to any court. Stevens only says that if the government wants to try them, then the government must use civil courts, a strange ruling nonetheless when one reviews the relevant articles of the Geneva Convention.

I'm satisfied with that agreement. Lock all of them up until Islamofascists surrender or die. When the Islamist terror networks give up their war on the United States, then we will release them. Until then, they can remain in Guantanamo Bay or wherever we set up detention facilities for them.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference So Much For Trials:

» SCOTUS Hands Terrorists Geneva Convention Protections from Suitably Flip
The Supreme Court ruled on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld today, handing down a 5-3 decision that extends prisoner-of-war privileges to terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Most notably, the decision holds that it was improper of the Bush administration to subject ... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2006 1:10 PM

» The Hamdan decision from Betsy's Page
We'll see how many legislators want to try these guys in the American justice system. Jane Harman and Edward Kennedy are already out there with statements criticizing Bush for trying to handle these terrorists without deferring to Congress and internat... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2006 2:07 PM

» Our treaty with al Qaeda from Hoystory
The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 today that al Qaeda is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions — seriously. Terrorists who wear no uniform and purposefully target civilians are covered by the Geneva Conventions. What’s troubling is that the Court... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2006 2:49 PM

» Declare Supreme Court Justices Enemy Combatants from Jon Swift
Although I have not actually read the entire Constitution, I believe that in the Article that gives the President the power to designate enemy combatants there is nothing that explicitly protects members of the Supreme Court from being declared enemy c... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2006 4:07 PM

» Supreme Court decision hamstrings the GWOT from Cake or Death
And it's gonna bring every civil rights attorney in the country to the captured terrorists in Guantanamo. And the ACLU chimes right in and says if how we were prosecuting them doesn't fly then the prison itself must be closed too. For a summary of ... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2006 7:23 PM

» Hamdan from Presto Agitato
The Supreme Court's Hamdan decision is plainly incorrect as a matter of law, but Captain Ed sees the up side.... [Read More]

Tracked on June 30, 2006 2:22 PM