For Those Interested in the Country's Rebirth...

To Whom It May Concern:

Insofar as the United States is defined as an idea, rather than by a mass of land, a religious-, social-, or cultural-heritage, a monarchy, etc., it has been... well, it has essentially not been for several years. Without getting into the history and importance of habeas corpus, suffice it to say that it was considered so absolutely vital to the existence of our nation that those guys who wrote the Constitution gave it the honor of being the only right enumerated in the text of the Constitution. (If you are curious, look at the Bill of Rights, or any other Amendment. Notice that every single other protection disappears without the Writ of habeas. Some would argue that some remain, but you can't really dispute the quartering of soldiers in your home if you are detained without access to counsel...) And it has not had de facto power for over 6 years, and has "legally" been rendered moot for around 3. Until June 12th.

For those interested, the full text of the opinion can be found here: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07slipopinion.html. The case name is Boumediene v. Bush. The opinion, while pretty unbelievably long, is worth the read. The dissents also reward perusal, Mr Roberts' as an erudite discussion of that which the Court failed to address, and Mr Scalia's as a shrill consideration of all those things the Court rightfully left unconsidered.

(It seems to me that the latter gentleman should recuse himself from all cases involving anything having to do with terrorism, torture, detainees' rights, etc., as long as his judgment is clouded--according to his own admission--by his son's involvement in Iraq. Let's not forget his quote from late 2006, regarding a case similar to Boumediene: "I had a son [Matthew Scalia] on that battlefield; they were shooting at my son, and I'm not about to give this man who was captured in a war a full jury trial." Filth.)

My favorite part was when Kennedy quoted Hamilton's Federalist 84:

“[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been,

in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instru

ments of tyranny. The observations of the judicious

Blackstone . . . are well worthy of recital: ‘To bereave

a man of life . . . or by violence to confiscate his estate,

without accusation or trial, would be so gross and no

torious an act of despotism as must at once convey the

alarm of tyranny throughout the whole nation; but

confinement of the person, by secretly hurrying him to

jail, where his sufferings are unknown or forgotten, is

a less public, a less striking, and therefore a more

dangerous engine of arbitrary government.’ And as a

remedy for this fatal evil he is everywhere peculiarly

emphatical in his encomiums on the habeas corpus

act, which in one place he calls ‘the BULWARK of the

British Constitution.’” C. Rossiter ed., p. 512 (1961)

(quoting 1 Blackstone *136, 4 id., at *438).

Patriots, express your elation as you will. I plan to run naked through the streets with a cardboard cutout of Mr Scalia covering my front and Mr Thomas my rear.

-W.