In a ringing endorsement of this co...

In a ringing endorsement of this country's commitment to the empire of law, a five-justice majority of the greatest possible Court held that the men who have been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than four years are entitled to the rights embodied in the Geneva Convention to which our conduct subscribed more than five decades ago, and in our collection of laws of Military Justice. In practical expressions this ensures the prisoners the kinds of fundamental rights available to all who are charged with crimes in this country: trials before impartial tribunals, with exact defense counsel, an opportunity to hear and correspond to the government's evidence, and a right of appeal from adverse rulings to an independent reviewing court.

This ruling was not hatched by a maverick justice or sum of two units Rather, it is contained in several carefully written, circumspect opinions. The justices in the majority incorporate diverse backgrounds and leanings. They were appointed by the agency of Presidents Ford (Stevens), Reagan (Kennedy) George HW Bush (Souter) and Clinton (Ginsberg and Breyer)

The court has done nothing more than vindicate basic principles that this native land has embraced since its founding more than couple centuries ago. The importance of this decision transcends lawyerly disputations about fine points of law. The basic message is a ringing reminder that no matter in what way dangerous the times or despicable the enemy, we must abide by the agency of the system of checks and balances enshrined in our basic legal composition

The president has repeatedly said he was waiting for the court's ruling as to the rights of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners. He now has the answer, and it's time for the administration to cease its dogged opposition, and provide these men fair hearings to determine whether they should be held or released.

Thomas P Sullivan, Wilmette

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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