Supreme Court slaps bush down

Supreme Court Rules Bush Overstepped Bounds, Blocks War Crimes Trials for Guantanamo Detainees

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The ruling, a rebuke to the administration and its aggressive anti-terror policies, was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, who said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and Geneva conventions.

The case focused on Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who worked as a bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden. Hamdan, 36, has spent four years in the U.S. prison in Cuba. He faces a single count of conspiring against U.S. citizens from 1996 to November 2001.

Two years ago, the court rejected Bush's claim to have the authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny them access to courts or lawyers. In this follow-up case, the justices focused solely on the issue of trials for some of the men.

The vote was split 5-3, with moderate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joining the court's liberal members in ruling against the Bush administration. Chief Justice John Roberts, named to the lead the court last September by Bush, was sidelined in the case because as an appeals court judge he had backed the government over Hamdan.

Thursday's ruling overturned that decision.

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Bush must be stunned - he is actually being prevented from doing something illegal! Is this a first for this administration?! Even this extremely conservative SC knows that bush is overstepping his bounds. If only there were more accountability...

But, he is finally being told that he needs to obey the Geneva Conventions and, per Think Progress, it looks like they are stating the illegality of his warrantless wire tapping!