Constitution back in force

Today's Supreme Court ruling that inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison have the right to challenge their detentions in federal court is a welcome return to common sense. In a 5-4 ruling, the high court said a 2006 law eliminating the right of terrorism suspects to appeal their detentions in U.S. court was unconstitutional. The Reuters international news service called the ruling "a stinging setback" for the policies of President Bush. "We'll abide by the court's decision. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it," Bush said Thursday at a news conference in Rome, where he was during a visit to Europe. "We'll study this opinion and we'll do so ... to determine whether or not additional legislation might be appropriate." The ruling was the Supreme Court's fourth striking down major parts of the Bush administration's War on Terror legislative agenda following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court. "Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law." Kennedy said the 2006 law, which allowed inmates to appeal their status as "enemy combatants" to a special court in Washington, was inadequate, as demonstrated by the fact that many have already been held for as long as six years without resolution of their claims. He said suspects do not lose their constitutional rights because they have been designated enemy combatants or because they are held in another country. Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the ruling.