Supreme Court to Hear Hamdan Case
by TChris
The Supreme Court agreed this morning to hear Salim Ahmed Hamdan’s plea for a real hearing before a real court, rather than a military tribunal at Guantanamo. TalkLeft background on Hamdan’s case is here and here and here.
Chief Justice Roberts was on the lower court panel that deferred to the Bush administration’s desire to keep detainees like Hamdan out of the judicial system. Roberts did not participate in the decision to grant certiorari, and presumably won’t play a role in deciding the case. That’ s good, since we already know what Roberts thinks about the issue. Alito would probably be just as deferential to the executive branch as was Roberts, raising the possibility (if Alito is confirmed) that the lower court’s decision might stand on a tied (4-4) vote in the Supreme Court.
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