[Dog]

Court Rules Lawyer Access for Detainees

By DAVID KRAVETS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled Thursday for the first time that prisoners held at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba should have access to lawyers and the American court system.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 decision was a rebuke to the Bush Administration. The administration maintains that because the 660 men held there were picked up overseas on suspicion of terrorism and are being held on foreign land, they may be detained indefinitely without charges or trial.

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[So Cal Rocket]

How does the 9th circuit even have jurisdiction to make a ruling in this case... the detainees are in Cuba, which isn't in the 9th circuit.

[Thud]

Don't have a cow. It's the 9th. Here's the URL to a 79-page PDF opinion:

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/429E2096892C3D8388256E00005FEB65/$file/0355785final.pdf?openelement

[demlosers]

Those losers in the 9th never quit!

[demlosers]

I say ignore the 9th court.

[TheBattman]

Exactly what authority does the 9th Circuit have over the case of terrorist "enemy combatants?

Which brings up the question - when did it become "normal" for people with a "cause" to shop around their case to find a friendly court? I thought our court systems were suppose to be organized so that each has it's own jurisdiction geographically and as to the types of cases it is responsible for.