Senate moves fast on tribunals issue

Baltimore Sun ^ | July 1, 2006 | Jill Zuckman

[ncountylee]

WASHINGTON -- Congress is moving quickly to begin writing legislation to allow the creation of military tribunals, reacting to a Supreme Court decision this week that repudiated the Bush administration's use of such tribunals to try Guantanamo detainees without authorization from Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said he would introduce legislation on the tribunals after the July Fourth recess, which extends through next week. Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has said he wants to work with the White House on crafting a bill.

And Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, introduced a bill Thursday night, hours after the court's decision, that he said would balance the need for national security with the need for due process.

500 detainees

Not all lawmakers are sure that Congress should write new legislation. Some think civilian courts or courts-martial convened according to military law are sufficient to resolve the cases regarding the nearly 500 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. "We should stay as close as possible to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Convention," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the assistant Democratic leader and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Durbin said it is not clear whether the military tribunals that the administration created would be able to continue.

"That is going to be the challenge, whether we can create a separate tribunal and meet the guidelines the Supreme Court set," he said.

[Nuc1]

The SCOTUS was denied jurisdiction over this issue by the Congress. This is nothing short of a coupe. The liberal 5 have have become our dictators. How dare they make this ruling. How dare we obey it!!!

[Nuc1]

The SCOTUS was denied jurisdiction over this issue by the Congress. This is nothing short of a coupe. The liberal 5 have have become our dictators. How dare they make this ruling. How dare we obey it!!!

[CFC__VRWC]

Reid and the rest of the Dims know that if they filibuster any attempt to create these tribunals (which I'm sure they really want to do, and what the Deaniac/Kos base will demand) they're slashing their own throats for November. They'll probably try to load the bill up with all sorts of poison pills that make it completely toothless and useless, or just load it up to bursting with pork. And then when it falls apart, they'll blame the White House and the GOP for "refusing to work with us."

[Reily]

I agree that the Congressional legislation removed the court's jurisdiction however how are you going to enforce the legislation.
I think that with a 'Declaration of War' the whole case would have been harder to even bring to the docket.