Today's ruling by the Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush delivered a dramatic blow to the President's lawless detention policies and overturned an effort by the previous Congress to eliminate the centuries-old right of habeas corpus. The ruling means that prisoners at the US military base at Guantanámo Bay, who have been held for more than six years without charge, will finally have the opportunity to challenge the accusations against them in a court of law. More broadly, the ruling rejects the premise on which Guantánamo is based: that the President can create a lawless enclave simply by incarcerating people outside the mainland United States.
