The Supreme Court declared Thursday that President Bush had overstepped his authority in the war against terrorism, ruling he does not have the power to set up special military trials at Guantanamo Bay without the approval of Congress. . . . The ruling is the most sweeping legal defeat for the administration in the 5-year-old war on terrorism, and it rejects the president's broad claim that the commander in chief can make the rules during an unconventional war. . . . The Constitution gives Congress the power to make the laws and set the rules for handling wartime captives, [Justice John Paul] Stevens said. It says Congress shall 'make rules concerning captures on land and water,' and also says Congress shall define the 'offenses against the law of nations.' Despite those words, the president contended that as commander in chief of the armed forces, he had the power to decide how suspected terrorists would be held, how they were to be treated, how they would be tried and what offenses amounted to war crimes. (Los Angeles Times, Friday)
Remarkable how much disagreement that short document has spawned.
FEE Timely Classic
Constitutional Intentions by Wendy McElroy