On Their Heads

I don't have time to read the entire opinion in Boumediene v. Bush, holding 2-1 that the Military Commissions Act precludes Guantanamo Bay detainees from pressing Habeas Claims. I agree with the court that the goal of the MCA was to strip the courts of jurisdiction from hearing such claims. I'm not sure whether such an action is constitutional, and I don't really know enough about the law to forward an educated opinion, though my gut says it isn't.

But in a sense it doesn't matter. There is only so much the courts can resist against a united congressional and executive assault on our core constitutional and human rights. This sin is on the head of the Bush administration, yes, for so aggressively working to undermine the rule of law and civil protections due to humankind. But it is also a sin we can ascribe to congress, for passing the MCA and gutting what little protection may have fallen to the detainees in the wake of Rasul.