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Supreme Court rules in favor of Guantánamo detainees

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that detainees held at Guantánamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

This is the third time that the court has ruled this way in a case about the legal rights of Guantánamo detainees; each ruling was a setback for the Bush administration. After the two previous rulings, Congress and the administration instituted new procedures for the trial of detainees, but this latest ruling says the current iteration of those procedures is inadequate.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, and was joined in the decision by Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times,” Kennedy wrote.

The court’s conservative wing — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — dissented from Kennedy’s opinion.

Has Rezko started talking?
The real estate developer, who was closely tied to Barack Obama, was convicted this summer — he’s likely talking about other politicians, however.
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John Lewis: McCain, Palin “sowing seeds of hatred and division”
Discussing the Republican campaign, the civil rights icon invokes the memory of George Wallace’s rallies.
McCain camp responds to Troopergate report
Sarah Palin denies that she abused her power, while a campaign spokeswoman derides the investigation as partisan.
Report: Palin abused her power
The investigator looking into Sarah Palin’s firing of Alaska’s public safety commissioner comes up with one conclusion that will make the McCain camp cringe, but another that will help them.
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